Her Unexpected Hero
by Halawen
Summary: AU Story takes place just after the Ice Hounds arrive. Clare finds herself in a bad situation and two people she least expects rescue her. Leading to a budding friendship and maybe more. Rating it M now to be safe. TRIGGER warning.
1. Not In A Million Years

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi  
**

**This story is AU and begins after the break in season 12.  
**

**For the purposes of this story EClare did not get back together but are very good friends.  
**

**So I really don't like the idea of Dallas and Clare but this idea popped into my head and wouldn't leave so I had to get it out.  
**

**It'll probably be pretty short like 3 chapters unless I come up with more ideas or guys are just begging for more.  
**

**Ch.1 Not In A Million Years**

**(CLARE)**

The mall was not my favorite place to be, unlike my best friend Alli who lived for shopping, I typically loathed it. The mall being one of my least favorite places to shop, the neon lights and the mindless people walking though like drones. But here I was on a Monday afternoon, because Jake's birthday was tomorrow and even though our new relationship as step siblings was somewhat tenuous, I felt the need to buy him a present.

I walked around looking through the stores wondering just what do you get for your ex-boyfriend turned Stepbrother? After a couple of hours with no luck I gave up, my stomach was growling and I needed to eat. I left the store I was in and walked toward the food court, I saw Drew working at the cell phone kiosk and waved to him, he smiled and waved back.

I glanced at the fast food choices and settled on pizza, after ordering a slice and a soda I took a seat at an empty table. I sat there absentmindedly eating my pizza thinking about what I could possibly get Jake, staring into nothing and paying no attention to my surroundings. That is until two male figures sat down at my table, one next to me, the other across. I kept eating but eyed them cooly.

The one across from me had medium length dark hair, light skin, sharp features and brown eyes, he reminded me vaguely of Reese and I shuddered internally. Reese, there was someone I hadn't thought of in forever, the way he looked at me wasn't helping the fact that he reminded me of Reese. The one sitting next to me had short spikey chestnut hair, olive skin, his face was slightly rounder than the other boys, his eyes were almost as green as Eli's, but he was bigger and more muscular than the other boy. He was also looking at me like was dessert.

"Can I help you?" I asked tersely.

"Oh there's lots of ways you can help us cutie." Said the one sitting next to me as he grasped my hand on the table.

I yanked my hand away. "Gross! As if I would ever touch either of you Neanderthals. I've lost my appetite excuse me." I said through clenched teeth, then I got up and tossed my trash and walked out of the mall.

I began walking around the outside toward the bus stop so I could go home, I passed one of the back allies where the trucks unload stuff for the stores and someone grabbed my arm and pulled me in. Before I could react I was shoved against the wall, the back of my head hit the brick wall with a thud. It hurt and my eyes went blurry for a second. I could feel two hands on my biceps forcing me against the bricks, and could make out two fuzzy figures. Finally my eyes focused, it was the two guys that had sat at my table, the look in their eyes was unmistakable, they were about to take what they wanted from me.

"GET OFF ME YOU CRETIN!" I yelled and tried to push him away but my arms were pinned to tight.

"Relax babe this'll be fun!" Hissed the one holding me, his eyes grazed over my body, his lecherous smile grew bigger.

"NO LET ME GO!" I screamed again, and tried to kick but he dodged me.

He leaned in to kiss me and I turned my head, so he couldn't kiss my lips. Tears broke from my eyes and I felt ill. And then he was jerked off me, I heard a grunt and looked to see him on the ground holding his cheek. I looked up to see Mike Dallas standing between him and me, Dallas still had his fist clenched from punching the guy. I looked to the side to see the other boy being stared down by Luke Baker. Never in a million years would I have thought that when I needed a savior most it would be Ice Hounds players and especially not Dallas and Luke.

"The Lady said let her go. Both of you get the Fuck out of here, and I better not ever see you come near here again!" Dallas said calmly but his tone was harsh, and the look in his eye said he meant business.

The two boys looked at Dallas and Luke, probably trying to decide if they could beat them in a fight. After a few seconds the one who had pinned me got off the ground and took off running, his friend followed. When they were out of sight Dallas and Luke turned to me. I was still leaning against the wall, a few tears still ran down my cheeks. I was breathing hard and couldn't seem to stop shaking slightly.

"Th..thanks," I choked out quietly.

Dallas and Luke came closer to me, I would have been frightened again but their faces were kind.

"You alright Clare?" Dallas asked me his tone was sweet and caring, something I admit I didn't think the hockey players were capable of.

"Yeah I…I'm fine, thanks again I should catch my bus." I said softly trying my best to smile as if nothing had happened.

I started to take a few shaky steps but Dallas blocked my way. "Let me give you a ride, Mrs. Torres let me borrow the car. Besides I can't be sure they won't double back and try to find you again if I don't take you home myself."

"Plus you're kinda trembling, you sure you're okay?" Luke spoke for the first time.

"Yeah I'm just…it was scary and I'm still a little shaken, I'll be fine though." I tried to assure them even though I didn't feel fine in the least.

"Come on Clare we're taking you home, there's no way I'm letting you walk, or take the bus." Dallas said.

"No really I do it all the time, I don't want to be any trouble. Besides my house is in the opposite direction of Adam's."

"It's no trouble to make sure you get home safe and anyway Luke lives in the same direction as you." Dallas persuaded offering me his arm.

I smiled a little at this gentlemanly show of manners. Seeing no point in trying to win this argument any longer I bit my lower lip and took his arm. The three of us walked to the parking lot and Dallas unlocked the car, opening the passenger door for me. I got in and buckled my seat belt, Luke got in the back and Dallas hopped into the driver's seat and off we went.

"My house is just…" I began but Dallas interrupted me.

"I know where you live," he said, I looked at him curiously and he explained, "I dropped Adam off last week."

I nodded and we rode in silence until we reached my house, I moved to get out of the car but then stopped and looked at both of them.

"Thanks again both of you, if you hadn't…anyway thanks."

"No big deal, I mean your Adam's best friend I couldn't just let them manhandle you." Dallas assured me and Luke just kinda nodded.

"Yeah but not everybody would have stopped them it was very…noble of you. Like tossing your cape over a puddle of water for me." I smiled.

Dallas chuckled a little, "Well next time I'll remember my cape. Wait where's your phone?" I pulled out my phone and he grabbed it from me gently. He fiddled with it for a moment and handed it back. "In case you see those guys again I put in my number, or if you just need to talk cause your still scared."

I smiled and could feel my cheeks blush. "Thanks again, both of you." I got out of the car and went inside without looking back. I closed the door and leaned against it, suddenly Jake was standing before me.

"Uh why did Mike Dallas and Luke Baker just drop you off?" He asked the look in his eye was one I had only seen vaguely in Peter and Spinner's eyes.

"_Boy he moved from jealous boyfriend to overprotective older brother faster than I thought." _I thought to myself. "Relax Jake I was at the mall to get you a birthday present and they saw me walking and offered me a ride." I smiled at him. There was no way I was about to tell him about the two sleaze balls that tried to rape me.

Jake nodded and his face relaxed, "So what'd you get me?" he asked raising his eyebrows.

"Actually I couldn't find anything that I thought you'd like. How does a gift card sound?" I asked.

Jake smiled, "Sounds fine, but you really don't have to get me anything sis."

"Well I'll feel bad if I don't so I'll pick up a gift card after school tomorrow." I said.

Jake shrugged and I went up to my room, to start on homework but I couldn't get the incident or how nice Dallas and Luke had been off my mind.

Beep Beep Beep, my alarm sounded. I groaned and turned it off, tossing the blankets off I felt a sudden rush of cold air. I looked out the window to see the ground was soaked, it had rained the night before. I scrunched up my face and went to shower, after the shower I wrapped up in my bathrobe, the house was warmer now, someone must have turned on the heater.

I went to my closet and pulled out a pair of dark jeans, a long sleeve purple shirt and my jean jacket. As I was getting dressed I heard Mom call for breakfast and I yelled that I'd be right down. I quickly dressed, did my hair, applied light makeup, slipped on my boots and ran downstairs. After breakfast Jake and I drove to school. Jake left to go find Katie and I walked up the steps to find my own friends. Alli and Jenna were talking in the foyer and I joined them. A moment later Adam and Eli joined us as well.

Suddenly our attention was drawn to a commotion coming through the doors. Allison, a girl who was trying really hard to outdo Bianca's old rep as school floozy, and who currently was a very eager puck bunny, walked into the school soaking wet below the waist. Everyone was laughing, partly because she looked silly but mostly because she was so mad about it and was yelling rambling things to the hockey players and the puck bunnies that followed her in.

"What happened to you?" I asked trying to keep a straight face.

"I slipped in a puddle and took an unwanted bath." She spat at me.

I laughed and looked at Dallas who was standing just behind her. "What didn't put your cape out for her?"

"Nah I only wear it on special occasions." He smiled at me, then his group of hockey players and puck bunnies walked down the hall.

I turned back to my friends and they were all staring at me with a curious look on their face. "What?" I questioned.

"What was that about?" Adam asked and the others nodded.

"Oh uh inside joke." I said nervously and began heading to my locker.

"Since when do have inside jokes with Dallas?" Eli questioned and I swear he had a tinge of jealousy in his voice.

"Ummm since yesterday." I said opening my locker.

"So what exactly happened yesterday to spur a friendship with Dallas?" Alli asked.

"Nothing I was at the mall and Dallas and Luke were there and…we talked a little." I said shifting nervously.

They didn't really look like they believed me but the bell rang and they stopped asking me questions. I let out a sigh of relief, I didn't exactly want to explain that they had saved me from being raped, especially to Eli and Adam.

**(DALLAS)**

I walked away from the puck bunnies to my locker. Don't get me wrong they could be fun, but some of them, like Allison were just too desperate. And it had been fucking hilarious when she slipped in the puddle because she was trying to kiss me. I was still smiling from my exchange with Clare when I reached my locker. I opened it and started to retrieve my books when I saw a fellow Ice Hounds jacket leaning next to me. I glanced over to see Owen looking at me.

"You got a thing for St. Clare?" He asked.

I looked at him, "St. Clare?"

"Been her nickname since grade nine, you know good church girl with the purity ring, dresses conservatively. Do you have a thing for her?" He asked again his tone more harsh this time.

"No she had some trouble at the mall yesterday and Luke and I helped her out and gave her a ride home that's all. Anyway why do you care?" I asked just as the bell rang.

Owen just kinda shrugged and walked away, I watched him go wondering if he had a thing for Clare, then shook my head no he doesn't go for girls like Clare. Neither of us do. So why can't I stop thinking about her?

**Update soon I do actually have more I want to add to this but as I said I'm not expecting it to be very long.**


	2. Suspicions

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi  
**

**Sorry this POV jumps around so much in this chapter but it was necessary  
**

**Ch. 2 Suspicions**

**(CLARE)**

It was free period and I was spending it in the library getting an early start on the day's homework. Half way through my history paper someone sat next to me, from the corner of my eye I saw the black and red of an Ice Hounds jacket. I looked up to meet Dallas' eyes. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Here." He said quietly taking a small black object from his pocket and handing it to me.

"What's this?" I asked taking it and examining it curiously.

"Shhh!" The librarian warned.

He gently put his hand on my elbow and nodded toward the door. I nodded and put my notebook and pencil back in my backpack and we walked out of the library.

"It's mace, you can put it on your keychain." He said as we started walking down the hall. "You know in case I'm not sitting two tables away the next time two idiots sit at your table and hit on you, and I don't see them follow you out."

I smiled about to say something but we heard and saw several members of the hockey team headed our way. Dallas grabbed my arm and pulled me into an empty classroom. The room was dark and he was standing very close to me, I took a shallow breath.

"Embarrassed to be seen to talking to me?" I teased.

"No, I mean not really but I got some flak from them for our exchange earlier. I told them you had some trouble at the mall and Luke and I helped you out."

"Thanks I'd rather no one know. I told my friends I saw you guys at the mall and we talked a little and they gave me flak too. And thanks for the mace; it might come in handy when I go get a gift card for Jake this afternoon." I smiled and moved to open the door but he gently caught my arm lightly pushing me against the bookshelf near the door, and leaning over me. He was so close I bit my lower lip nervously.

"You're going shopping again by yourself?!" He asked, he looked shocked and kinda worried and angry.

I scrunched up my face a little not understanding his reaction. "Relax I'm just going to the corner drug store to get a gift card. I've been there a million times; no one pays attention to you in the drug store. And anyway I have your mace remember, I'll be fine."

He looked at me for a minute I was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable. "Just call me when you get home okay?"

"Okay I will." I said slowly unsure of Dallas' new interest in my safety.

He looked relived and moved away from me opening the door, I gave him a small smile and walked out of the classroom to my locker.

**(DALLAS)**

"I can't believe she's walking by herself after yesterday. If I didn't have practice I'd be there watching her." I said under my breath as I was putting on gear for hockey practice.

Apparently I wasn't as quiet as I thought because Luke looked at me. "You give her the mace?" He asked in a low voice but Owen heard him because he looked over.

"Yeah but...I don't know...I mean if we hadn't have been there yesterday those fuckers would have raped her behind the mall. She's so small and innocent looking, it wouldn't be hard for someone else to take advantage of her." I said pulling on my jersey.

"Whoa you mean Clare? That was the trouble at the mall?" Owen asked leaning in close to us.

I pulled him over closer to keep the rest of the team out of it. "Yes but she doesn't want anyone else to know so keep your trap shut okay?"

"I won't say a word but why are so worried now?" Owen asked he paused for a few seconds and then said, "I knew you had a thing for her."

I scowled at him, "I don't have a thing for her I just don't want her to get hurt."

"Dude I'm sure she'll be fine, come one we gotta practice." Luke said patting my shoulder.

**(CLARE)**

As soon as school was out I walked to the drugstore. I quickly found a gift card to Jake's favorite clothing store and purchased it. I walked the few blocks home with no incident. I put my key in the door and unlocked it, pulling out my phone. I shut the door behind me while calling Dallas and waved to Jake who was sitting at the dining room table. I got his voicemail as I figured I would since he had hockey practice.

"Hey it's Clare, just calling like you asked me too. I'm home safe and sound." I said into the voicemail and hung up.

Jake looked at me curiously, "Who you callin'?" Jake asked.

"Oh uh Eli." I lied. If I told him it was Dallas he would have asked more questions. "Well I'm gonna finish my homework and sign your birthday card before dinner." I said going up to my room.

Jake had invited Katie to his birthday dinner; I actually like Katie so it didn't bother me at all. After dinner we gave Jake our gifts, he seemed to like them all. Glen and Mom started asking Katie and Jake a bunch of questions and I was getting bored and then my phone rang. I looked at the screen and saw that it was Dallas and grabbed it before anyone else could see.

"Hey you didn't need to call." I said walking upstairs.

"I just got done with practice, I got your message but I still wanted to call."

I giggled, "Well I'm alive and safe at home so don't worry. How was your practice?"

"You really care how my practice went?" He asked disbelieving.

I shrugged, not that he could see me over the phone. "It's more interesting than going back downstairs and listening to my parents ask Katie a bunch of questions."

He laughed and began to tell me about the hockey practice. I tried to follow along but I knew nothing about sports. We talked for about half an hour about nothing at all, and then there was a sudden loud knock on my door and Jake popped his head in.

"Hey Katie and I are going for Ice cream you wanna come?" He asked.

"And be a third wheel? No thanks." I said.

"Clare, you're not a third wheel." He responded.

"No you guys go ahead, I'm pretty tired." Jake shrugged and closed my door. I turned my attention back to the phone call, "I should probably go, I'll see you in school tomorrow."

"Yeah I gotta eat and do homework still, see you tomorrow." He said and we hung up.

**(ADAM)**

I was in science class and Mr. Bettancamp was assigning groups to work on projects due next week. I was more than happy when I got teamed with Clare and Connor.

"So you guys want to work on it after school?" Connor asked when class was over.

"I have co-op until five." Clare said.

"Yeah me too, but you guys can come over to my place after, say 5:30? I'll have Mom order us some pizza." I offered.

"Cool." Connor said.

"Sounds good, I'm coming from the Interpreter office downtown so I may be a little late." Clare said.

"That's fine, I know what you like on your pizza and we'll start without you." I told her and she gave me one of her 'thanks for understanding' smiles.

**(CLARE)**

I looked at the clock on my phone nervously, I only had ten minutes to finish my fact checking and make my bus to Adams on time. I quickly finished and e-mailed it to Asher, I shut down the laptop, got up and knocked on Asher's office door and he waived me in.

"Hey I finished my fact checking and I gotta run if I'm gonna catch my bus." I said hurriedly.

"You need a lift I was just about to leave." Asher said.

"No it's okay, I can take the bus, I wouldn't want to put you out."

"Really Clare it's no trouble." Asher said getting up and putting his coat on.

"Okay, if you're sure." I said.

"Absolutely." Asher said he put a hand at my back and escorted me to his car.

**(DALLAS)**

I was just getting in from Hockey practice, I pulled into the driveway and noticed and unfamiliar car pull up to the curb behind me. I got out of my car and looked to see Clare in the other car with an unfamiliar man. He wasn't old enough to be her Father but he was at least ten years older than her. They were talking and she was smiling, but something about the way the guy looked at her made me uneasy. I watched her get out of the car and get greeted by Adam and Connor. The three of them went inside the basement, the guy watched Clare walk away his eyes following her intently. When he could no longer see Clare he drove away and I went inside.

"Hey Dallas, will it bother you if we work on our project down here?" Adam asked me when I walked into the basement that also served as my room.

"No it's fine I have homework too." I said.

"Cool." Said Adam. "You can have some of our pizza."

The three of them were sitting on the floor around the coffee table. I sat down on the couch close to Clare, she was on the phone with her Mom I guess, telling her where she was and she'd be home later. I took a slice of pizza I was starving after practice. Clare got off the phone and put it on the coffee table. They began working on their project and I started on my homework.

"I'm gonna grab a soda do you guys want one?" Clare asked after about fifteen minutes of working.

"Yep," said Connor.

"Thanks Clare," Adam said

"Yeah I'll take one too." I added.

Clare nodded and bounced upstairs and then her phone beeped and we all looked at it. It was a text message.

**Asher: You left your jacket in my car.**

"_Asher? That must be who dropped her off." _I thought to myself and looked at Adam and Connor.

Connor didn't seem to care but Adam had a partially concerned, partially curious look on his face. Just then Clare came back down stairs with 4 soda's still in the plastic holder rings. She began to hand us each a soda.

"Who's Asher?" Adam asked.

Clare sat down again. "He's my boss at my co-op, at the Interpreter." She said nonchalantly opening her soda. "Why?"

"He sent you a text, said you left your jacket in his car." Adam told her and he sounded about as worried as I felt.

"Oh. He gave me a ride here I must've forgotten it." She said picking up her phone to reply and then it rang, and Asher's name once again appeared on the screen. "Hi Asher I was just about to text you back, I'll just get the jacket at co-op tomorrow…really?...Oh sounds great…yeah I know it, I love Indian food…okay see you tomorrow, thanks Asher." Clare hung up and Adam and I were looking at her.

"What was that about?" Adam asked before I could get the question out.

"Oh I submitted some story ideas today and Asher wants to have lunch tomorrow to discuss them." Clare explained.

"Away from the Interpreter? Is that normal?" I asked and Adam nodded in agreement.

"We've had lunch together before it's not a big deal guys. Now come on we need to concentrate on our project, Jake will be here to get me in an hour." Clare shrugged and went back to looking at their assignment.

Adam and I exchanged a dubious look. Something about that Asher guy gave me the creeps.

**(CLARE)**

I was preparing to leave for co-op when I heard my name being called. I turned around to see Dallas coming up to me. He gently grabbed my arm and pulled me into an empty corner.

"Are you really going to lunch with your boss today?" Dallas asked me.

I looked at him puzzled. "Yeah…I told you we've eaten lunch out before after my co-op it's no big deal, now I really need to go." I said trying to walk past him but he didn't let go of my arm.

"I don't trust the guy." He stated.

"Dallas we're eating in a public restaurant and I'll be back right after lunch, I'll be fine." I assured him, "Now I really have to go or I'll miss my bus." He didn't look assured at all but he moved out of the way so I could go and I ran to meet my bus.

**(DALLAS)**

I was at lunch with the rest of the hockey team but I just couldn't eat, I was too worried about Clare. Owen was sitting next to me and I turned to him, leaning in and keeping my voice down. "Hey you did the co-op thing last year right?"

He looked at me curiously, "Yeah all grade eleven's do, why?"

"You ever go to lunch with your boss, away from co-op?" I asked him.

He arched an eyebrow at me, "No that would have been weird."

"I knew it wasn't normal, I can't believe she went to lunch with him." I exclaimed, I hadn't meant to say it aloud but it slipped out.

Owen's eyebrow arched further, "Who?"

"Clare. She's at lunch with her co-op boss, the guys at least ten years older than her. Adam and I told her it was weird but she shrugged it off, saying she'd been to lunch with him before. He dropped her at the house yesterday so she could work on a project with Adam, the way he looked at her, the guy was eye raping her." I told him.

"I knew you had a thing for Clare." Owen said.

"I do not, I just…she's so small, and sweet and innocent and naive. She practically screams 'protect me' ya know." I exclaimed still keeping my voice low.

Owen looked thoughtful for a minute, "Yeah okay I get the wanting to protect her she does kinda emit the damsel in distress vibe, but I still think you have a thing for her."

"No I…" Owen cut me off.

"Dude when you were talking about her yesterday I saw that look your face, I've seen that look before. One of my friends had it bad for her last year, had the same look on his face whenever he talked about her. I don't know why you're denying it, just ask the girl out already! She is currently single." Owen advised me.

"Look," I said slowly, "even if I did like Clare and I'm not saying I do, our social circles don't exactly mix. Her friends don't like me, mine don't like her. If I wasn't living with Adam I probably never would have talked to him."

Owen shook his head, "If you like the girl who the hell cares what your friends think?"

I didn't know how to reply, I didn't even know if I liked Clare. All I knew was I didn't like her near that Asher guy. I hadn't eaten anything and I wasn't hungry, I got up leaving my tray on the table and left the lunch room.

**(CLARE)**

School was over and I was walking out with Adam and Eli, they were talking about some comic book artist being at the comic book store on Saturday and how they were going blah blah blah and then from behind me I heard; "Hey Edwards!" I turned around, as did Adam and Eli. We were all a little surprised to see that Owen was the one that had called me. He stood near some lockers waving for me to come over.

I turned to Adam and Eli, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"No we'll wait right here." Eli said he obviously had no trust for Owen.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to Owen. "What's up?"

"You got plans Friday night?" He asked me.

I crinkled my eyebrows together, "No but if you're about to ask me out I'll find some."

"You wish," he said in a far more arrogant tone than Eli had ever used. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to me.

"What's this?" I asked not really looking at it.

"A ticket to our hockey game on Friday, I know it would mean a lot to a certain someone if you were there. So you'll come right? You did say you had no plans." Owen was completely sincere; his eyes for once were entirely kind. He was actually being genuine.

"Yeah sure, I'll be there."

"Great!" He smiled and walked away.

I tucked the ticket into my purse and walked back to Eli and Adam.

"What did Owen want?" Eli asked suspiciously.

"Oh just a question about math." I lied. There was no way I was going to tell them he had invited me to the hockey game.

We walked out of the school and I waved goodbye to them going to my bike. As I started riding I thought about what Owen had said and wondered who he'd meant when he said it would mean a lot to someone that I was there. I barely new any of the hockey team, I only vaguely knew Owen and my experiences with him last year were not stellar. But I didn't think he meant him, he definitely seemed to be asking for a fellow player.

All I knew about Luke was that he was Becky's brother and he'd helped save me form those cretins at the mall the other day. I doubted very much that it was him. I sort of new Campbell the youngest Ice Hound. His girlfriend Maya was in Whisper Hug with Adam and He and I had both sat in on a rehearsal. But Campbell was a grade nine and had a girlfriend so it was unlikely that it was him.

The only other player I knew was Dallas. Could it be Dallas? Why would it mean a lot to him to have me at the game? We had a sort of blossoming friendship I guess, but why hadn't he just asked me to the game himself?

**Awww Owen's playing matchmaker. Update soon**

**Oh and fair warning now, Asher will be a lot more vile in this story  
**


	3. Unwanted Kiss

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi  
**

**Ch.3 Unwanted Kiss**

**(CLARE)**

I knocked on Asher's office door nervously; he looked up, smiled and waved me in. "I uh finished my article and e-mailed it to you." I was shifting by the door and bit my lip, I was so worried about what he thought of my article. Approval from the Asher Shostack could mean the beginning of my career in journalism.

Asher looked me over and smiled, "Fabulous Clare, if you can stick around we can look at it together and I'll be sure to get it in for tomorrow's paper."

I glanced at my watch; I only had an hour before the last bus left for my neighborhood. "Yeah I can stick around for a bit."

"Great lets go look at it in the editing bay and don't worry if you miss your bus I'm happy to drive you home." He got up from his chair and came to me gesturing for me to follow him.

We walked down the hall to one of the three editing rooms, normally reserved solely for the editing staff; sometimes senior staff used them to write articles in quiet privacy. Unlike the bull pen and the staff offices the walls of the editing rooms were not glass and offered complete seclusion. We went in the room and he closed the door behind us and we both sat down. Asher logged into the computer and opened my article and he began reading.

Occasionally he would point things out and I would change it. Sometimes he'd lean over and change things for me, others he would prod me into fixing by asking me questions. It was two hours before we had finished.

"See you are good at this." Asher smiled at me.

I blushed and smiled back. _"I can't believe Asher just said I was good at this! Asher Shostack just complimented my journalism skills!" _Internally I squealed but kept my exterior calm. Asher was looking at me, I suddenly realized that he was terribly close, his arm was on the back of my chair the other lingering on the desk, he'd been leaning over to help me on the article and he hadn't straightened up. Just as his proximity was making me uncomfortable his lips were suddenly crushed against mine.

For a split second I was too shocked to do anything, it didn't seem real, and then his lips began to move and reality hit me like an anvil. I lurched back from his touch, standing to my feet as quickly as I could, grabbing my purse and running out of the office, out of the building and down the street.

When I was far enough away I stopped, leaning against a building to catch my breath. Tears were running down my cheeks. I took a deep breath and physically shook trying to erase what had just happened from my mind and body. It didn't work of course but I didn't know what else to do. After a few more minutes of steadying my breathing and swallowing the tears I took out my phone and called Jake.

"Can you pick me up?"

He huffed a little, "Yeah from the Interpreter office?"

"No I'm…" I stopped, where the heck was I? I walked away from the building to look around. "I'm outside a record store, Vinyl Heaven."

"Clare what are you doing downtown by yourself at this time of night? Just stay there and stay on the phone, I'm on my way." Jake said he sounded pissed.

I reached into my purse pulling out my keychain with the mace at one end. Ready to spray anyone that came along. Jake asked again, while he was driving down what I was doing downtown alone so late.

"Asher and I stayed late working on my article and I missed my bus, I started to walk home but realized it was too far." I lied. _"I understand why Jake is upset but somehow I feel safer downtown right now than alone in the office with Asher."_

"Clare! You should have gone back into the office and called me from there! You don't know who could be roaming around downtown at this time of night!" He continued yelling at me for the fifteen minutes it took him to drive to me. I got in the truck and he hugged me tightly. "Don't ever ever scare me like that again! Don't worry I won't tell Mom and Dad but next time call me from the office and don't try to walk home by yourself."

"I promise." I said quietly buckling my seat belt and we took off for home. Suddenly realizing I left my backpack beside my desk at the Interpreter, I let out an involuntary, "Shoot!"

"What's wrong?"

"I left my backpack."

"You wanna go back and get it?" Jake asked.

"NO!" I said a little too loud and sharp because Jake looked at me. I composed myself immediately, "I mean Asher is probably gone now and the office is probably closed. It's fine I don't need any of that stuff for the morning. I'll just get it when I go into co-op tomorrow." The thought of returning to face Asher made me feel slightly ill but what choice did I have? I couldn't lose my internship and fail, and the kiss was a mistake...right?

Jake eyed me carefully, "Clare are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just tired. It's been a long day."

We arrived home a short time later and I went straight to the bathroom, brushing my teeth furiously for several minutes, then scrubbing at my face determined to scrub Asher off but no matter how hard I scrubbed I could still feel his lips on mine. I gave up and went to my room, changing for bed and slipping under the covers. I felt mentally and physically exhausted but sleep did not come easy that night.

I slept fitfully all night long, my dreams invaded by Asher. I must have looked tired the next morning when I came down to breakfast because my Mom looked me over attentively.

"Clare are you sick?" She asked.

"No I'm fine Mom just tired."

She nodded and I ate and got ready for school, Jake drove us and he left to find Katie as soon as we got there. I walked like a zombie to my locker, I was trying very hard to forget about the kiss and pretend like it had never happened.

**(ADAM)**

I saw Clare at her locker and went over to talk to her about the project. "Hey Clare, I was thinking…" She was staring into her locker, not moving, "Clare?"

Just then Eli walked over and put his hand on her arm. Something he's done at least a hundred times since he's known her, but this time she gasped and jumped back, recoiling from Eli's touch.

"Clare are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you." Eli apologized pulling his hand back.

She looked at both of us, seeming to register the fact that her two best friends were standing before her and not whoever she was recoiling from.

"I'm fine guys," She let out a nervous smile, "just tired I was up late last night working on my article."

I eyed her carefully, she may have sounded normal to someone else but not to us, we knew her to well. She sounded stressed and almost scared. "How'd it go? Your article? I guess your lunch with Asher was successful."

I saw Eli give her a look when I mentioned her lunch with Asher.

"Oh yeah it was great and the article came out perfect, I totally forgot to pick up a copy." She said closing her locker fast. "I have to get to class guys see you later."

"Clare we have fifteen minutes before classes start still." Eli said and was he looking at her not hiding his concern. He was just as worried as me.

She looked at us her expression was almost guilty, she was definitely hiding something. "Did I say class I meant the library. I need something from the library." She said quickly turning away from us and running down the hall.

Eli turned and looked at me and I shrugged and shook my head. "Let's go find Alli maybe she told her what's wrong." I suggested. Eli nodded and we went searching for Clare's best girlfriend.

**(CLARE)**

I was in Drama class really paying no attention to what the teacher was saying until I heard my name called. I looked up, "Huh?"

"Clare please read this scene with Liam." The Teacher said handing me a small booklet.

I sighed and got up from the desk and went over to the front of the class to stand by Liam, skimming over the scene quickly. We began reading, I tried to put passion into it, and get into the scene like I cared but my mind just wouldn't let me concentrate. Liam was saying his line and I looked down at the script to see that our characters were supposed to kiss, I swallowed hard and suddenly Liam's face leaned into mine, his lips pursed his eyes closed, and I would have kissed him with no problems except that suddenly his face became Asher's.

I dropped the script and ran out of the classroom, I heard the Teacher and Liam calling after me but I didn't care. I ran to the back of the school and through a door to the back alley. It was the same door Eli and I used to escape when we ditched to work on our English assignments. But that day seemed like a million years ago, right now all I wanted was air. The bright sunlight causing me to squint my eyes, I fell back into the shadow of the building, leaning against the cold stone blocks, bracing my hands on my knees for support. I don't know how long I was out there, my mind was racing, eventually my breathing slowed, and then a voice behind me made me jump a little.

"I thought you'd outgrown your prudish reputation after three boyfriends, but running from kissing a boy in class, guess I was wrong." Owen said walking up to me.

I looked around, the sun had moved and I knew I'd been out here for a while. "I didn't run away from kissing Liam." I shook my head and he looked me over, his face changed. "I've actually kissed Liam before that wasn't why I ran out of class."

"Then why'd you run?" He asked, he was only a few feet away from me now.

I looked at Owen wondering briefly if I could tell a guy I barely knew that Asher had kissed me last night. "Nothing, never mind…not worth mentioning." I said quickly and the turning away under my breath added. "I can't lose my internship."

"Clare what's going on? What about your internship? Why'd you run out of class if you were okay kissing Liam?" He asked but it wasn't mean or taunting like it would have been a year ago, his voice and face both were full of concern and even caring.

"I…ummm…" I stalled I couldn't tell him, I couldn't tell anyone. "What time is it?"

He looked at his watch, "Uh just past 10:30 why?"

"Shit I'm gonna be late, I have to go catch my bus to co-op."

Owen was staring at me his eyes wide over the fact that I had just uttered a swear word. "Clare hold it! What did you say about your internship? What's wrong?" He was coming closer and I began to back up.

"Nothing is wrong I really need to go or I'm going to be late. Just drop it Owen please?" I backed up into a chest and looked behind me to see Dallas looking down at me with a worried curiosity in his eyes.

His hands came down and rested on my arms gently and I stayed pressed up against his chest. "What's going on?" He asked looking from me to Owen and back to me again.

"Nothing I have to go or I'm going to be late for co-op. Please Dallas I need to leave now."

Dallas looked at me a second and then moved around me, taking his hands off my arms. I ran to the bus stop, just barely catching my bus before it left.

**(DALLAS)**

Clare ran off stepping onto the bus and it took off. I turned back to Owen, "Is she okay? She seemed upset. What were you two doing back here anyway?" That last part came out a little more harsh than intended and I realized I sounded jealous. Owen picked up on it too.

"Whoa relax dude I've been coming out here since grade nine, it used to be to smoke, now it's to clear my head. I found her out here, you hear about what happened in class?" I nodded the whole school was talking about how she'd run away from kissing a boy. "Well I asked her about it and she was evasive and started getting agitated, mumbling something about her internship."

"Her internship? You don't think Asher did something to her?" I asked.

Owen shrugged "I don't know, she wouldn't answer my questions. But I know she wasn't running away from kissing Liam, she said she'd kissed him before, and said that wasn't what she was running from, but she wouldn't tell me what did maker her run. I tried to ask her what was going on and she said she was going to be late for co-op and well you heard the rest."

I clenched my fist, _"If Asher did something to her…"_

**(CLARE)**

I arrived at the Interpreter and taking a deep steely breath marched straight to Asher's office. His office door was open and I went in not waiting for permission and closed the door behind me. I looked Asher right in the eye, his expression was hard to read but I wasn't going to back down, I needed this internship.

"Asher about last night…" I began hoping I didn't sound as nervous as I felt.

He got up from his desk and cut me off, "Please Clare it was my fault, I'm going through a rough divorce and we work so well together, and you act and look so much more mature than your sixteen years I simply lost my head. Can you forgive me?"

I let out a sigh and relaxed. _"I knew it had all been a mistake." _I thought suddenly feeling a million times better. "Of course, it was a mistake, let's just pretend it never happened."

Asher smiled, "I knew you were a smart girl. Have you seen your article yet?" I shook my head. He leaned over his desk picking up his copy of that day's paper, then he opened it to show me the article.

I smiled and took the paper, "Asher this is amazing! I'm a published journalist with a byline!"

**(ASHER)**

I smiled watching Clare admire her article, her clear blue eyes sparkling. She wanted to forget the kiss ever happened but I could not. Most of the female interns submitted to me immediately but Clare was different. She'd actually run, but she bought my excuse and now she was relaxed again. She may be sixteen but she acted thirty most of the time, sure sometimes she acted twelve, but even that was adorably sexy in its own way. She had a mature face and dressed more mature as well, often appearing to be twenty five. I placed a careful hand on her shoulder and she didn't even flinch, too engrossed in admiring her article. I licked my lips, letting my eyes fall to her ample breasts.

"_This chase could be fun and the reward will be well worth it."_

**(CLARE)**

I was at my locker putting away my books to go to lunch, having just returned from co-op. After my talk with Asher this morning the kiss disappeared and I was in a much better, relaxed mood. Suddenly aware that someone was looking at me I turned around to see Liam. He was looking at the floor and nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"Hey Clare listen I just wanted to apologize for…"

I cut him off. "No it's not your fault Liam I had a late night last night and was tired and not thinking clearly. I actually have fond memories of kissing you."

"Yeah?" He perked up looking me in the eye now.

"Yeah." I smiled and just prove my point and stop everyone talking about this morning I put my hand on Liam's shoulder and leaned up planting a gentle kiss on his lips. I lingered in the kiss for about five seconds, long enough to hear some whispers coming from around us and then I pulled back. "See."

Before Liam could speak or react I turned and walked down the hall, passing a few whispering girls and a group of hockey players. Most of the hockey players looked shocked, Owen looked semi amused, but was looking at Dallas. I glanced at Dallas, he did not look pleased and I wasn't sure why. I walked to the lunch room at sat down at a table.

"Did you really kiss Liam in the hallway?" Adam asked me half laughing as he sat down next to me.

Eli sat across from us he was waiting for me to answer the question. "Well I had to make up for this morning and prove that I was not running away from kissing Liam." I shrugged.

"What was with you this morning anyway?" Eli asked.

"I told you I was just tired I feel much better now." They both eyed me and didn't look like they believed me but they turned their attention to our food and we all began eating.

"Hey you guys wanna go to the horror movie fest tomorrow night?" Adam asked after several quiet minutes.

"Most definitely, they're going to show 3 classic foreign horror movies I've been dying to see." Eli commented.

The boys bumped fists and I rolled my eyes. "As fun as cowering into the two of you and trying to not vomit every time the scenes get gorier," I said my voice oozing sarcasm off every word, "I actually have plans for tomorrow night already." I continued my voice brightening at the end.

"Got a hot date?" Eli questioned, his face remained placid but his eyes darkened with jealousy.

"No I'm going to the hockey game." I said taking another bite of my sandwich.

"Since when are you into hockey?" Adam asked looking at me curiously.

"Its research, I have to write an article for the school paper on the hockey team so I need to watch them play." I lied

They both looked at me studying my face for a minute and then shrugged and went back to their lunches.

**Update soon~ Next Chapter the Hockey Game.**


	4. The Game,the Celebration &the Mall Again

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi  
**

**Ch.4 The Game, the Celebration and the Mall Again**

**(CLARE)**

The day had gone by so fast, I had whizzed through my pop quiz in science class. Eli, Adam and I had eaten lunch at the Dot and they had chided me again for coming to the hockey game tonight. Even co-op had gone by fast, Asher had only been there for the first little while, he'd left to go cover a political event but when he'd left his hand had lingered on my shoulder a bit which was slightly uncomfortable.

But none of that mattered right now, because right now I was at the Ice Hounds hockey arena, fighting my way through the throngs of people, trying to find my seat. It was pretty crowded and I recognized a few faces from school but no one that I knew, well enough to want to ask them how to locate my seat. People were pushing and shoving to get past me and I got bumped into the boy in front of me pretty hard.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, "everyone keeps shoving me and I don't know where my seat is." The boy turned around and I smiled when I saw it was Tristan.

"Hey Clare," He said, "It's okay."

The girl in front of him turned around as well and I saw it was Maya. "Hi Clare." She smiled.

"Hey, you guys here to watch Campbell?" I asked and Maya nodded.

"And my Brother." Tristan added.

"Your Brother who's your…" and suddenly it occurred to me what Tristan's last name was, "Owen! Owen is your Brother!"

"That's the one." Tristan said as we got shoved forward by a few more people.

"Let me see your ticket." Maya requested and I handed it to her. "Oh your sitting with us, Tris will push his way through everyone just stay behind him." She said and held out her hand.

I took it so I wouldn't get lost, and she took Tristan's hand and he made his way through the crowd. Our seats were right upfront just behind the glass, well plastic barrier. It made sense to me that my seat was right next to Tristan knowing that Owen was his Brother and he'd been the one to give me the ticket. But the fact that Owen was Tristan's Brother was still sinking in.

"But he was so mean to Riley and Zane last year, and he threw Adam into a door!" I exclaimed as we took our seats.

"I know," Tristan said apologetically, "but I came out at the beginning of last year and I think he was transferring some of his anger toward me onto them. He really is a good big Brother though, I mean he's never beat on me and he's calmed down since then. He hasn't been suspended this year at all."

I thought about it and it was true, Owen really had been better this year. As far as I knew he hadn't bullied anyone, he'd certainly left Adam alone. And he had been the one to give me the ticket to the hockey game. "Yeah I guess he has been better this year. He even gave me my ticket; he said he thought it would mean a lot to someone if I was here."

"Who?" Maya questioned.

"I don't know he didn't say." I said just as some music started.

"Oh here comes the team," Maya said excitedly.

The Ice hounds came out, the announcer introducing each player and their position. I turned to Tristan and Maya. "Ummm I know nothing about hockey, what do the positions mean?" They kindly explained to me as each person came out.

After the Ice Hounds were introduced they went in a little box area, Tristan told me was the bench just like football, then the opposing team came out and was introduced, I was watching them until Maya said, "Oooh Clare Dallas is looking right at you!"

I looked over to Ice Hounds bench and sure enough Owen was smiling and nudging Dallas who was looking straight at me, I smiled at him and he smiled back. Owen looked very pleased with himself. _"So he had invited me for Dallas."_

After the national anthem the game began and it was actually pretty exciting! I hate to admit it because I usually detest violence but I have to say watching the opposing team get body checked was one of the best parts. I swear when Owen finally did get some time on the ice, he body checked someone just for our benefit; he slammed them into the wall right where we were sitting at winked at us before skating away.

By half time I was completely into the game, jumping up with Maya and Tristan every time the Ice Hounds scored and by the end of the game I could name the positions and even knew a few hockey terms thanks to Maya and Tristan, who were very patient in explaining things to me. Maya understood as she told me that before she started dating Cam she had no interest in hockey. But Tristan had been dragged to all of Owen's sports things his whole life. In the end Cam and Luke had each scored one goal and Dallas had scored two and the Ice Hounds won by two points, which according to my hockey tutors was a lot for a hockey game.

"The team always goes to Little Miss Steaks after a game and Tris and I always get a table of our own. Cam will sit with us for a bit but the rest of the team usually ignores us, but it's still fun if you want to join us?" Maya offered as we began filing out of the arena.

"Oh no I wouldn't want to intrude on your thing." I said feeling slightly out of place again.

"Don't be silly you wouldn't be intruding, we can always use someone else at our table and besides I bet Dallas would want to see you there." Tristan said nudging me and moving his eyebrows up and down.

"Well if you're sure." I said slowly.

"We're sure," they said in unison as they linked they're arms with mine.

We walked the few blocks to Little Miss Steaks, talking about the game, school, the play, Whisper Hug ect. When we reached the restaurant Marisol sat us at a booth near the corner where the hockey team usually sat. I could tell this had become Maya & Tristan's routine as Marisol called it their usual table. We had just given our drink order when the Ice Hounds came in with a lot of loud celebration. They pushed together two tables in the corner and sat down. Cam looked our way and smiled and waved, mostly at Maya but we all waved back. Owen looked our way, smiled and nodded. Dallas looked right in my eyes and smiled and as much as I hate to admit possibly liking a jock, I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat.

I must have blushed because Tristan said, "Oh someone is crushing."

I looked at them but I couldn't deny it. _"Okay so maybe I do like Mike Dallas but could he really be crushing on me too or was he just being nice after what happened at the mall?" _I shook off the thought as Marisol took our food order, we all ordered dessert since we'd eaten at the game. This also seemed to be a tradition for Tristan and Maya.

Once our dessert came Campbell came over and sat next to Maya, he put an arm around her and she kissed his cheek. It was cute really and vaguely reminded me of my relationship with K.C. which seemed a life time ago.

"Hi Tristan, Clare." Campbell greeted us and he bumped fists with Tristan.

"Hi Campbell, good game." I smiled.

"Thanks, you guys need anything? I can have them put it on the team's bill." Campbell offered.

"I'll take another milkshake." Tristan said.

Campbell nodded and looked at Maya and I but we shook our heads, he got up and walked to the counter.

"I'm gonna change the music on the juke box." I said grabbing some change from my purse and getting up from the table.

I walked over to the juke box and began browsing through the selection; while I was trying to make a decision I absentmindedly bit my lower lip, a habit of mine. Suddenly a man stumbled up to the juke box and I began to feel uncomfortable.

"Your pretty and pretty hot," he said slurring his words a bit, he was quite drunk. All I could do was stare at him like a deer in the headlights. "I'll give you shommmething bigger to put in your mouth." He added grabbing his crotch to get his point across.

My cheeks went red and my eyes wide. "Excuse ME!" I demanded. He leaned in closer and grabbed my arm, and I gasped a little getting scared. "Let go of me!"

He opened his mouth to say something but before his drunk mind could the words to his mouth a sharp synchronized yell stopped him.

"HEY!" It was Dallas and Owen. They were so loud that everything stopped, well not the music but the whole restaurant suddenly got quiet, everyone stopped talking and moving and anyone who could see was looking at me and the drunk guy.

"Let go of her NOW!" Dallas demanded.

The drunk blinked, looked at me and back to Dallas but he didn't let go of my arm. Seeing this Dallas and Owen both started to get up, a ferocious look on both their faces. This finally seemed to register with the drunk because he let go of my arm. He didn't move away from me however. Dallas took my hand and pulled me behind him and he and Owen got in the guys face. I was beginning to think they were going to start a fight when Marisol appeared.

"You get out NOW! You've had way too many, you should have been cut off a long time ago. This is a family establishment and you need to leave!" Marisol demanded to the drunk but when he just stared at her she added, "Or I can have the hockey team throw you out."

The drunk looked back to Dallas to and Owen and then ran out. Marisol walked away and Dallas and Owen turned to me.

"You okay Clare?" Dallas asked.

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Maybe you guys should come sit with us." Campbell said coming next to Maya and handing Tristan his milkshake.

"That's okay he's gone now I'm sure we'll be fine." I said not wanting to be trouble or intrude.

"Cam's right we can keep a better eye on you if you sit with us and he may come back." Owen said.

Owen and Dallas walked to a nearby table, grabbing three chairs and putting them at their table. One next to Campbell's chair for Maya, and two between their chairs for me and Tristan. I grabbed my purse, and drink, Tristan and Maya grabbed their stuff and we walked to their table. There was no use in arguing, they'd made up their minds, I sat down next to Dallas and Tristan sat down next to me.

"You guys know Cam's girlfriend Maya, and Tristan and Clare." Owen introduced us to the rest of the team, they all nodded or waved.

"I am so sorry Clare!" Marisol said coming to our table, "I don't know how he got that drunk. The manager is talking to the bartender right now and we'll take care of your dessert and drink."

"Okay thanks." I said although I really didn't think it was necessary.

The team began talking and scarfing down pizza again, and I began to feel out of place once more. Maya was holding Cam's hand and they were lost in their own conversation. I looked at Tristan and he looked about as uncomfortable as me. _"Well at least I'm not the only one, maybe Tristan and I should start our own conversation. Let's see the only thing I can think of that we have in common is Eli."_

"So Tristan is Eli being a good director this time around? Last year he was a little ummm eccentric. But he hadn't been diagnosed as Bipolar either, so it wasn't really his fault."

Tristan smiled at me obviously glad to have a conversation to take part in. "Yeah he's been great! He's really good at it. You two used to date right?"

"Yeah, last year." I said and suddenly felt something behind me. I looked behind me just slightly to see that Dallas' arm was on the back of my chair.

We stayed until eleven when the restaurant closed and we were kicked out.

"You need a ride home Clare?" Owen asked when we all got outside.

"No that's okay I'll call Jake to pick me up."

"Mmmm Jake's on a date with Katie and she never comes home until her curfew at 12:30" Maya spoke up.

"Come on it's no trouble, I told Maya and Cam I'd give them a ride and I gotta get Tristan home." Owen insisted.

"Okay thanks Owen."

He nodded and then looked behind me, "Dallas you said you needed a lift right?"

"Uh yeah thanks." Dallas said.

Luke began snickering and Dallas shoved him playfully. We walked to Owen's car, a black SUV, somehow I was not surprised.

"Tris you sit up front, the rest of you sit in back. Oh there's only three seats and seat belts, you don't mind sitting on Dallas' lap right Clare?" Owen asked.

I could feel myself blush a little. "Ummm no that's fine." I said quietly.

Everyone got in; Maya sat in the middle between Dallas and Campbell, everyone buckled up. I got in and sat on Dallas' lap and he put his arms around my waist holding me tight. I looked at him.

"I'm your seat belt." He explained quietly and I smiled at him.

Owen started the car and began driving just over the speed limit down the street. Dallas held me a little tighter forcing me to lean against his chest and I couldn't help but smile. We came to the Matlin house first. Campbell and Maya got out she said goodbye to all of us, he walked her to her door and they shared a small goodnight kiss. Dallas could have let me go as there was a free seat belt now but he didn't and I didn't say anything as I was kind of enjoying being with Dallas at the moment. Campbell's house was next, he hopped out and waved goodbye thanking Owen for the ride.

"Well I guess you can sit in the seat now." Dallas said.

I nodded and regretfully slid from his lap to the empty window seat. I told Owen where I lived and we arrived a few minutes later.

"Thanks for the ride Owen, and the ticket to the game it was really fun. Bye Tristan."

"Sure thing Clare." Owen nodded.

"Thanks for the company Clare I hope you come to more games." Tristan said.

"Maybe I will. Goodnight Dallas."

"Goodnight Clare, sleep well." Dallas smiled.

And then I did something that surprised even me, I leaned over and kissed Dallas' cheek. It only lasted a couple of seconds because I quickly got embarrassed. I grabbed my purse and leapt from the SUV all but running to my door. I unlocked the door quickly, turned to give them one last wave and then entered my house closing the door behind me and leaning against it.

"I can't believe I just kissed his cheek! He must think I'm crazy!"

**(DALLAS)**

It was Sunday afternoon and I was at the mall to get new shoes. I was kinda mindlessly walking through while thinking about the one thing that had been on my mind since Friday night, Clare had kissed me! It was only a quick peck on the cheek but her perfectly pink soft lips had felt so nice on my skin, I just had not been able to get the kiss off my mind. Suddenly I saw her; she was talking to Drew at his work. I began walking over, watching her carefully; she was wearing flat black shoes, a dark blue skirt that came to just above her knee and a white top. She was leaning on the counter, riding her skirt up pretty high and I felt a little guilty for looking.

"Hey Drew, hey Clare." I greeted reaching the kiosk.

"Hey Dallas." Drew smiled and we bumped fists.

Clare looked up at me quickly then blushed a little and looked away. "Hi Dallas." She said quietly.

"What are you guys up to?" I asked leaning on the counter. Clare was still leaning on the counter and it was pushing up her already large breasts, forcing her cleavage out of her top a little. Drew, I could tell, was carefully avoiding looking. I couldn't seem to tear my eyes from her cleavage until Drew slapped my arm really hard.

Clare gave us a curious look, her obliviousness was adorable. "I dropped my cell at church and broke the case; Drew was just showing me all the new glitzy girly ones they got in." She said. I nodded and Drew handed her a purple case with a blue rose on the back. "I like this one, how much Drew?" Clare asked finally straightening up.

"$25.99 plus tax." Drew told her.

"Okay I'll take it."

Drew rung it up and slipped it into a bag, Clare opened her purse to get out her wallet to pay. I put my hand on her arm and she looked at me. "I got this." I said taking my wallet from my pocket.

"Oh no that's okay I can…"

She began to argue but I cut her off, "I insist, after all I really should have given you a ticket to the game and not Owen."

Clare smiled sweetly, her face lighting up and she somehow became even more beautiful. "Thanks Dallas that's really sweet of you." I handed Drew the money and noticed he was giving me an odd look. He took the money, gave me my change and handed Clare her bag. "Well thanks again I'll see you tomorrow at school. Bye Drew." Clare said.

"See ya Clare." Drew smiled at her.

"See you tomorrow." I smiled and Clare walked off.

Drew suddenly hit me upside the head and I looked at him. "You like Clare!" He stated.

"So what if I do?"

"So she's Adam's best friend and you might want to tell him." Drew informed me.

"Yeah yeah I will."

**(CLARE)**

"_That actually just happened. I can't believe how sweet Dallas is, buying my case and…" _My blissful musings were suddenly interrupted by two familiar faces I could have happily never seen again. I took out my keychain clutching the mace and looked behind me, glad to see Dallas still talking to Drew. I made my way back to them and hid behind Dallas. I must have looked scared because they both eyed me closely.

"You alright Clare?" Drew asked.

"They're here, near the elevators." I said looking in the direction I'd just come from.

"Who?" Dallas queried.

"The guys, the one from last week that…" before I could finish Dallas' face changed instantly becoming murderously angry and he began walking in their direction. I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him back. "Where are you going?"

"To kill them." He stated.

"Dallas they haven't done anything to me this time, I just didn't want to be near them alone, even with the mace you got for me after last time." I said and he stopped advancing.

"One of you want to fill me in?" Drew requested and we both looked at him.

"Fine but don't tell Adam." I warned.

He cocked a curious eyebrow, "Okay." He said slowly.

"Last week when I was here shopping for Jake's birthday present these two guys came and sat down next to me while I was eating. After saying some vile things and grabbing my hand I told them to leave me alone and got up and left the mall, they followed me out pulled me into one of the back alleys. One of them pinned me to the wall, they were going to…" I looked at Drew he nodded in understanding. "Well Dallas and Luke were apparently here and saw them follow me out and so they followed them and chased them off. And I just saw them again."

Drew was just kinda staring at me. "Shit Clare I'm glad your okay." He looked at Dallas, "Good thing you guys were here."

"Yeah I know. Hey I'm gonna take Clare home make sure she gets there safe." Dallas said.

"Yeah good idea." Drew nodded.

"Bye Drew and remember don't tell Adam." I reminded.

"I won't." He promised.

I turned back to Dallas and we began walking toward the parking lot. He suddenly looked down between us and I realized I still had hold of his hand. "Sorry." I apologized dropping his hand.

He smiled taking my hand again and interlacing our fingers, "Don't be."

I felt butterflies in my stomach all the way to the car, and they stayed even after he let go of my hand to get in the car. The drive home was silent but when we got to my house he kissed my cheek. I blushed and smiled until my front door opened and Jake stood in the doorway glaring at Dallas ever so slightly.

"Bringing my sister home again Dallas?" Jake said a distinct hard edge to his voice. I shot him a look as I got out of the car but he ignored it.

"Mike Dallas taxi at your service." He quipped back.

I smiled and waved at him and he drove off. Jake looked at me, awaiting an explanation. "We ran into each other at the mall again and he offered me a ride home that's all."

Jake watched me as I walked past him, the look on his face said he thought something more was going on. I chose to ignore him and go up to my room. Even though I had told Jake there was nothing going on, I couldn't help but wonder as I lay on my bed, just where this thing with Dallas was going and just what was this thing anyway?

**Update soon.**


	5. A Light in the Dark

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch.5 A Light in the Dark**

**(CLARE)**

I was sitting at my desk at the Interpreter, about ready to leave when Asher came up next to me.

"Hey Newsie I have to go cover the mayoral debate at city hall, come on."

I blinked at him a couple of times, "You want me to go with you to cover the debate?"

"Yep I need an assistant come on, it'll be good experience."

I didn't even think twice about it, I grabbed my coat, backpack and purse and followed Asher out to his car. I got in setting my stuff down at my feet; I was so excited I could barely contain myself.

"Calm down Newsie you're a professional." Asher scolded.

"Right sorry, it's just this is actual news; I'm going into city hall with a press pass." I practically squealed.

Asher looked at me and laughed a little, "I remember when I had your enthusiasm Clare. You look very nice by the way." I smiled not really thinking about the compliment I was too excited.

I'd watched political debates on TV but being front row for one was a whole different experience. It was so intense, and energetic. After the debate Asher spoke to each candidate one on one, he always seemed to know just the right question to ask and it was truly inspiring to watch him. He introduced me to everyone we came across, as his best intern. Almost all of them asked me how I liked working with the great Asher Shostack. I was so excited to be there and had to contain my excitement but it was hard not to gush about working with Asher given how thrilled I was. In all we were at City Hall for almost 4 hours and it was after ten by the time we got back to Asher's car.

"That was so exciting, how did know all the right questions to ask?"

He started the car and smiled at me, "Comes with experience."

"Thank you so much for bringing me, getting a real taste of journalism like that was incredible!"

"Hey even I started at the bottom running for coffee I figured you'd like to see what you get when you stick with it." He said in a low husky voice.

"I don't know how I can ever thank you!"

"I can think of a way." He said as the back of his hand caressed my cheek.

I flinched away, all the excitement and happiness I'd been feeling a second ago was washed away with a tidal wave of fear, trepidation and revulsion. "Wh…what are you doing?" I tried to keep my voice steady.

"You're so beautiful Clare; do have any idea what it does to me watching you in the office?" His lecherous tone seeping under my skin and making it crawl.

I didn't answer, I couldn't, I didn't know how. His hand moved down to my chest brushing against my breast, his other went to my waist resting on my hip his fingers slowly caressing against my hip bone. I could feel tears pushing to break free but I swallowed them back. I tried to open the car door but it was locked, I frantically tried to get it unlocked but my hands couldn't seem to grasp around the lock and get it up.

"Asher let me go!" I sounded frightened and hopeless like a lost child, and that's how I felt.

"I thought you wanted to thank me Clare." His voice was low and calm. How could he be so calm?

I didn't answer I just continued trying to get out of the car, fearing for my life, my virginity, my body and my sanity. The terror I was feeling was nearly all consuming, I could barely breath, barely think. I wanted to yell, to scream but my voice seemed to disappear every time I tried. I looked around the parking lot but no one was in the dark back corner where Asher had parked and even in my frightened state I realized he must have planned this.

His hands grabbed at my clothes pulling hard and I heard ripping sounds. I heard a sort of high pitched squealing shriek that sounded a little like a distressed rabbit and realized it was coming from me. Tears began spilling from my eyes flowing like hot salty waterfalls down my cheeks and falling to my chest. My breathing was coming in short frightened gasps; my whole body began to shake involuntarily.

At last I managed to get the lock up, I grabbed my purse and backpack with one hand and opened the door with the other. I had one on foot out of the car and on the ground when Asher grabbed my arm with tremendously brutal force, squeezing so hard I could feel my circulation being cut off.

"You better show up to your shift tomorrow, and not breathe a word of this to anyone!" He growled at me, his face had turned manically stone like and menacing. His eyes narrowed into slits, I felt as though he were burning holes into me the way he looked at me. He jerked my arm roughly and I yelped inadvertently. "Finish out your internship like this never happened and you'll leave at the end of the week with two glowing letters of recommendation from me, one to get you into just about any college and the other to get you a job in journalism. If you don't finish out your internship or anyone finds out about this I will turn it around on you. I'll tell them you came onto me and I was forced to fire you. Don't forget I have e-mails, tweets and plenty of eyewitnesses to back me up about how you fawned over working with me."

I was too shocked and panicked to speak until he squeezed my arm harder and I thought he might break it. "Okay." I cried, my voice unrecognizably shrill and distressed. "Okay I'll come tomorrow and finish my internship and I won't say anything, now please let me go."

He released my arm sort of half shoving me out of the car. The car door slamming closed as he sped off from the parking lot. I shrank back to the wall, sinking down to the hard cold asphalt. I felt dirty, violated and petrified. My left arm was throbbing, pain radiating down it from where he had grabbed me. The cold night breeze nipping at my exposed skin and I shivered as much from fright as from the cold. I couldn't seem to stop crying, or get my breathing under control, I brought my knees to my chest wrapping my arms around them and putting my head down.

I'm not sure how long I stayed like that but two gruff sounding male voices quieted me instantly. I recoiled further into the shadows to remain hidden, suddenly aware I was not in a safe place. I gripped at my keychain, readying the mace if anyone approached. As soon as the voices faded I let out a shaky but relived sigh and looked myself over for the first time since getting out of Asher's car.

My skirt was ripped at the zipper; thank goodness my curvy hips were able to hold it up. My blouse had a tear down the chest stopping just under my bra and extending almost to under my arm, a flap of white fabric wafting in the gentle breeze and my lilac colored cotton bra exposed. A deep red mark was on my arm where Asher had grabbed and held it, it was still throbbing and painful, and felt sore and weak.

I reached into my backpack with my other hand and pulled out my jacket, I pulled it on, it took some struggling, my arm smarting the way it was but I got it on. I haven't been able to button the denim jacket since my boobs came in last year, but I pulled it around me as tightly as I could to hide my torn shirt. Shakily I walked away from the parking lot to the front steps of city hall. I considered momentarily if I should stay hidden in the shadows or if I should sit on the steps under the street light. Seeing that there was a camera pointing at the lighted steps I decided this was best, if anyone did attack me or anything at least it would be caught on camera.

I knew I couldn't stay there but at this hour buses only ran to the university. My Mom would be asleep, Jake would come get me but he would know something was wrong and would ask me questions until he found out. And I didn't quite feel like going home, although I wasn't sure why. I sat down on the chilled concrete steps while thinking of what to do or where to go. I was still shaking a little, and my breathing still somewhat unsteady, but my tears had all been cried out.

I wanted to be somewhere I felt safe and my first thought was Eli. Aside from that couple of weeks, before we knew he was bipolar, that he'd gone a little crazy finding me and Fitz alone in my house, I'd always felt safe with him. I was sure that even though he's barely been given driving privileges again his Dad would let him take the car to come get me and that they would be perfectly happy to let me stay the night. I was also certain that Eli would know something was wrong and get it out of me and considering what it was I didn't know how he'd take it or what he might do.

Alli's house had always been a home to me, but she'd have to get one of her parents to come get me. Alli would know something was wrong and her parents would talk to my parents. I was sure that between her and Jenna they would be able to get me to tell them what happened and would freak out.

Adam's house always made me feel safe and at home, much like Alli's. But Adam barely had his learners permit and I knew Audra would have to come with him and she'd have to know why they were picking me up at this hour. So that was out, but thinking of Adam gave me an idea, Dallas. Maybe Dallas could come get me? I got out my phone, opened my contacts and clicked on Dallas' name.

"Clare? You're calling awfully late, you okay?" His deep voice was kind and concerned.

I took a breath trying to calm my demeanor and steady my voice and breathing. "Can you come get me?" My voice was soft nearly a whisper, it sounded strange and almost far away even to me.

"Hang on." He said his voice was calm but there was determined edge to it.

I heard a door open, presumably the basement door, then I heard the sound of keys being taken from a metal hook, I heard him walking again and realized he was walking upstairs. "Don't tell Adam." I said urgently.

"Why?"

"Just don't." It came out a little angrier than I had intended it too.

He knocked softly on a door and then I heard it creak open, "Hey," he had moved the mouthpiece away so I knew he was talking to someone else but I could still hear him pretty clearly. "I have to run out for a bit, if your parents get up can you just tell them I had to go to Luke's for a few minutes and I'll be back by 11:30?" I heard Adam's muffled voice, his tone sounded curious but he seemed to say okay. I heard Adam's bedroom door close again and the sound of Dallas going downstairs. "Where are you?"

"I'll be on the steps of city hall, please hurry." I was pleading but I didn't care.

"What the hell are you doing at city hall this late?" He demanded and I could hear the car door shut and moment later the car starting.

"Dallas please just get here." My voice sounded small and desperate, I was still shaking and I was sure he could hear my distress.

"I'm coming Clare, I'll be there in a few minutes, stay on the phone with me okay. You got the mace?"

"Yes it's in my hand."

He stayed on the phone with me until I saw the maroon colored minivan pull up to the steps. I ran to it, jumping in and we both hung up, I buckled my seat belt and could feel him looking at me but I refused to meet his gaze for fear that I would break down. He continued to look me over for a few minutes before turning his eyes back to the road and driving off. I kept my jacket as tight around me as I could, while picking at my nails nervously. From the corner of my eye I saw him open his mouth to talk, but my phone rang in my hand suddenly causing me to jump. I looked down to see Jake's picture, I bit my lip but hit accept bringing it to my ear.

"Hey Jake." I said as calmly as I could manage.

"Clare where the hell are you?"

"Sorry I forgot to call I'm at Alli's. When I finished co-op she called with a boyfriend crisis and needed me to come over. I'm spending the night; will you let my Mom know?"

"Yeah I'll let her know tomorrow and next time call home."

"I will sorry." I said and hung up.

"So I should take you to Alli's then?" Dallas asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

I shook my head, "Please I want to go to Adam's, I'll sleep on the couch in the basement they'll never know I was there."

"Okay the Torres house it is, but you're not sleeping on the couch, you can take my bed." He insisted.

"No I'm small I don't mind…" I began to argue but he cut me off.

"I'll take the couch you sleep in my bed." He said in a determined tone.

I nodded and a few minuts later we pulled into the driveway. He turned off the car and we both got out, we entered very quietly through the front door, he locked it again and hung up the keys as I carefully made my way down the basement steps. I finally felt somewhat safe again, feeling more at ease and at home I mindlessly slipped my jacket off out of habit tossing it on the couch. Dallas came down the stairs turning on the basement light. I turned to face him, his eyes got wide and then narrowed angrily. I realized he could see my torn clothes and forming bruise and bit my lip.

"Clare what the hell happened?"

"Nothing." I said quietly, looking down at my feet.

"Nothing!" He exclaimed loudly.

I looked back up at him, shooting him a warning look. "Dallas keep your voice down, Adam is a light sleeper."

"Clare," his voice was more of a yelling whisper now, "I picked you up from city hall at eleven at night, your clothes are torn and you have a large developing bruise on one arm and your trying to tell me nothing happened!?"

I felt a knot in my stomach and tears brimming at my eyes, I swallowed hard to keep the tears back. "Dallas please it's been a long day and I just want to go to sleep and forget about it." He kept silent, just looking at me. "Please?" I sounded like a two year old about to throw a tantrum but at this point I didn't care.

He shifted his mouth and eyes into a sort of frown and then sighed in defeat. "Okay fine. I have to get some bedding for the couch from the linen closet upstairs. In the second drawer of my dresser is some t-shirts and shorts, pick out anything that looks comfortable to sleep in. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I nodded and Dallas turned to go upstairs again. I walked behind the partition that separated Dallas' room from the rest of the basement and opened his dresser drawer. I sifted through the clothes but nothing looked particularly comfortable to sleep in so I went to his closet.

**(DALLAS)**

Slowly and quietly I closed the door to the linen closet while holding a comforter and sheet in my other arm. I carefully made my way down both sets of stairs coming back into the basement and setting them on the couch I turned around to talk to Clare, hoping she would tell me what happened that night. But I froze when I saw her, my mouth dropped open, my heart beat a little faster and my breath caught in my throat. Instead of wearing a pair of my shorts and one of my t-shirts, she was wearing one of my white dress shirts and that was it, well besides panties. It came to her mid-thigh, the top four buttons undone, the sleeves rolled up to just above her elbows. Her curves filling it out salaciously, I must have been staring for a while because she bit her lip and began shifting uncomfortably.

"Is it bad?" She asked timidly, "I'm sorry it was the only thing that looked comfortable but I'll change if you want."

I mentally slapped myself so I could speak again. "NO!" It came out louder and more intensely than I had intended, she kinda jumped and looked at me funny. I took a breath, "No it's fine, you…you look amazing."

She smiled and blushed a little. "Thanks." She said quietly.

I went close to her, standing in front of her. I put my hand on her shoulder and she sucked in a sharp breath. I could see tear streaks down her cheeks and fresh tears welling in her eyes.

"Clare please tell me what happened tonight?" I kept my voice smooth and calm, she looked down but I cupped her chin in my hand forcing her to look at me again.

She took a deep breath and bit her lip again. "You can't tell anyone."

"Okay I won't now what happened?" I dropped my hand from her shoulder.

She shifted and started nervously picking at her nails again, taking a deep breath before speaking. "You remember last Thursday when you found me and Owen kinda arguing behind the school?" I nodded, "The night before I stayed late at co-op editing my article with Asher and…" she paused taking a breath, "and he kissed me, I was shocked and ran out of the office."

My fists clenched of their own accord, but I tried to keep my face calm. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I went straight to his office the next day to confront him and he apologized before I could. He said he was going through a rough divorce and we worked so well together and he just lost his head, that I act and look so mature he forgot I was only sixteen."

I scoffed, _"Yeah right he forgot, fucking pedophile!" _I said in my head.

She ignored my scoffing noise and continued, "I didn't really see him on Friday but tonight just before I was ready to leave he told me to come with him to the mayoral debate as his assistant. I was actually really excited." She smiled almost sardonically, "The debate and sessions afterward were great but when we got back to his car…" She took a shaky breath and I could tell she was trying not to cry. "He touched my cheek and then just began grabbing at me and ripping my clothes, I tried to get out of the car but it was locked. It felt like forever but I finally got the door open, but he grabbed my arm and threatened me before I could get out."

Tears escaped from her eyes in a slow but steady flow. A burning anger rising inside me, I turned and took a couple steps to the door, I had only one thought consuming me, _"Asher Shostack needs to die, slowly and painfully by my hands!"_

Clare appeared in front of me, she put her hands on my chest, "What are you doing? Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'm going to kill him!" I said, my eyes had narrowed angrily and I was looking at the door, my face hard and determined.

"You can't." Her voice was soft and pleading.

"He attacked you!" I said still focusing on the door.

"He threatened to fire me if anyone found out, I shouldn't have told you. You can't do anything. Please Mike."

My first name coming from her lips, even in the pleading almost whining way she said it, was enough to make me look at her. My fists remained clenched but my body relaxed just slightly it was enough to allow her to push me back a few steps, my legs hit the foot of the bed and I sat down. I looked up at her, she looked so distressed and frightened and small. I unclenched my fists and gently placing my hands at her hips brought her onto my lap.

Her arms went around my neck, and her head rested gently on my shoulder. She seemed to relax taking a tranquil breath. I tightened my arms around her just a little, becoming her armor, her shield, if anyone or anything was going to try and hurt her at that moment they would have to get through me first.

"Thank you Mike." She said quietly into my neck.

"For what?"

"Sneaking out to pick me up, letting me stay here and not telling anyone, for giving up your bed, letting me sleep in your shirt, for listening but mostly for making me feel safe."

I smiled and looked at her, her luminous blue eyes looking up at me. I wanted to tell her so many things, to assure her she would never be hurt again that I would keep her safe, but I couldn't seem to get the words from my brain to my mouth. So I said it the only way I could, by gently bringing my lips to hers!

**Update Soon.**


	6. He Did What!

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch.6 He Did What!?**

**(CLARE)**

His lips touched mine and for a fraction of a second I was shocked, and then I began kissing him back almost with a hunger as the kiss took away the feel of Asher and the fear he had instilled in me just a short time ago. His tongue gently touched at my lips requesting entry, I parted them granting him access. His tongue found mine and massaged it gently. I tightened my grip around his neck and he in turn tightened his grip around my waist. After several minutes we pulled apart for the sole reason that we both needed oxygen. Each of us taking a deep breath to fill our lungs with air once more, but our gaze never broke from one another's eyes. I bit my lip and smiled nervously, unsure of what the kiss meant and too afraid to ask. Dallas brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and smiled sweetly.

"Come on Princess you need to get to sleep." He said in a soothing tone.

He released his grip from my waist; I took the cue and removed my arms from around his neck. I half expected him to just stand up and drop me from his lap, but he didn't, he took my hand in his and gently guided me to stand, then never letting go of my hand he led me to the head of the bed, lifting the covers for me to get in. I lay down and he tucked me in gently kissing my forehead. He took a couple steps away his hand holding mine until the last second and then my hand dropped from his. The minute his touch was gone, all the fear, anxiety and shame Asher had made me feel came rushing back like a tidal wave. I shivered even under the warmth of the blanket as I began to feel Asher's touch on my skin once more.

"Mike!" I called to him in sort of shrill whisper, sitting up and clutching at the blanket. He turned back to me, a look of concern in his eyes; he'd obviously heard the urgency in my voice. "Will you stay with me?" He cocked an eyebrow probably wondering if he'd heard me right that I wanted him to sleep in the bed with me. "I'm still frightened and I just feel better when your close."

He smiled, "Of course." He walked away behind the partition and turned out the basement light and it suddenly became almost completely dark.

I could see the moonlight coming through the sliding glass door, but behind the screen it was nearly pitch black. I haven't been afraid of the dark since I was five but as soon as the light went out I felt as though Asher was next to me again, I could actually feel his hot breath on my neck, his hands trying to rip at my clothes. I brought my knees to my chest and tried to tell myself it was nothing more than my imagination, I didn't want to call for Dallas and sound like a terrified child, but that's how I felt.

A shadowed figure came around the screen, my logical my mind told me it was Dallas, my irrational petrified mind told me it was Asher. I heard the sounds of clothes coming off and hitting the floor, this didn't help the petrified part of my mind that began screaming at me that it was Asher and he was going to rape me. Just as my flight instincts were about to kick in, the covers lifted and a warm body was less than a foot from me, and then a warm, strong, callused hand touched my back and I sighed in relief. As soon he touched me I knew it was Dallas and the petrified part of my mind shut up and shrank away.

His hand moved slowly from my back going round to my arm, he gently pulled me down to lay on the bed once more, keeping his arm around me. I turned on my side, resting my head and hand on his chest. He kissed my head softly and I felt as his head went back into the pillow. I let out a light but happy sigh, feeling so indescribably safe and contented in his strong arms, using his sculpted chest as a pillow. The serene sounds of his breathing and rhythmic beating of his heart became like my own personal lullaby and before long I was fast asleep.

**(ADAM)**

"Adam can you go wake up Dallas, he's usually up by now." My Mom asked me when I had finished breakfast.

"Yeah sure Mom." I said getting up from the table. I opened the basement door and went went the stairs, "Hey Dallas time to…"

I stopped when I came around the screen Mom had put down there to give him some privacy, he had a girl in his bed and at first I thought his so called errand last night had been to go pick up a puck bunny to score with. And then my heart stopped and my breath left me as I recognized the distinct cinnamon colored curls lying on his chest. I clenched my fist, and felt anger rising inside me, had he actually defiled my best friend!? I ran back to the top of the steps taking them two at a time and shutting and locking the basement door to keep my parents out, this was for Clare's sake not Dallas. I came back to the foot of the bed hoping that I was wrong and that some other girl had Clare's exact hair.

"CLARE!" I snapped in low growl. Both Clare and Dallas shot up and looked at me with surprised and slightly guilty faces.

"Uh morning Adam." Dallas greeted slowly scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"What the hell are you doing in bed with Clare?!" I demanded with clenched fists and teeth. I began advancing on Dallas, he could easily take me in a fight but I would get in a few good punches first.

Before I could get to him Clare was suddenly in front of me, a hand on my shoulder pushing me back with as much strength as she had just then. "Adam nothing happened." She insisted.

I looked at her and then caught sight of her clothing or lack thereof at that moment. She was clad in nothing more than one of Dallas' dress shirts that they make him wear on game days, and underwear I hoped. I felt my cheeks turn pink and looked back at Dallas angrily. "I find that hard to believe given what your currently wearing Clare!"

"Adam I promise nothing happened, look purity ring still on my finger." She showed me her hand with her ring still on it.

I stopped moving to kill Dallas but my fists remained clenched and I continued glaring at him. "Then what were you doing in bed with Dallas and why are you sleeping in his shirt?"

"I needed something to sleep in and…" she hesitated looking at Dallas and shifting nervously, she looked sort of sad and ashamed and I could see tears brimming at her eyes. She took a deep breath as if preparing herself for whatever she was about to say next. "Last week Asher kissed me."

I looked away from Dallas and into Clare's eyes, my face softened a little but I was still seething, only now it was mostly directed at Asher and not Dallas, "He did WHAT?!"

"Shhhh your parents I don't want them to find me here like this, your Mom will call mine and I'll be dead." She took another deep breath. "Adam you can't tell anyone, not that he kissed me or what I'm about to tell you, I wouldn't be telling you this at all but I'm afraid you'll kill Mike if I don't, even though all we did was sleep."

Did she just call him by his first name? He hates when people do that, this wasn't helping her argument that nothing happened. I took a breath, "I won't tell anyone now what happened Clare?"

She bit her lip nervously and swallowed back some tears, "Last night he asked me to help him cover the mayoral debate, when we got back to his car he locked me in and started…tried to…." She walked past me grabbing something off the floor, "he tried to attack me Adam" She said holding up the shirt and skirt she was wearing yesterday and I saw that they had been ripped.

"That bastard!" I was furious; all my anger was now purely directed at Asher Shostack. The perverted pedophile who had tried to attack my best friend and very nearly ripped her clothes off in his car.

She lowered her torn clothes from my gaze but kept hold of them, a couple of tears were trickling down her cheeks. "I finally unlocked the door but just before I got out he caught my arm and threatened me if I ever told anyone, look." She started pulling down one shoulder of the dress shirt and I looked away, "Adam it's okay look." She urged.

I slowly opened my eyes; I'd already seen more of my best friend than I felt comfortable with. When they finally opened enough for me to see I caught sight of a deep purple and blue bruise on her upper arm. It seemed to wrap all the way around her arm, it was so dark it almost looked black. My eyes got wide and my mouth dropped open, for a minute I couldn't breathe. She covered her bruise again and I let out a breath.

"That asshole of a pedophile needs to die." I hissed.

"That's what I said." Dallas agreed with me from the bed.

"Good let's go kill him."

"Adam you can't do anything, either of you! I shouldn't have told either of you." Clare stated.

I looked at her, she was visibly upset and her eyes were pleading. I took a breath, I didn't want to upset her anymore right then, she'd been through enough. "Okay fine but how'd you end up here and in bed with Dallas?"

"After Asher left me stranded in the parking lot of city hall I needed a ride. I thought about calling Jake or Eli or even Alli, but I didn't want to go home and I didn't want anyone to know. I knew Alli and Eli would ask too many questions and find out what happened. I knew you couldn't drive on your own and you'd ask too many questions too but I've always felt safe at your house, so I called Mike to pick me up and asked him to bring me here. I also asked that he not tell you he was coming to get me. I wasn't going to tell him anything but when he saw my ripped clothes and bruise he made me, and I just felt safer with him in bed with me but I swear to you Adam all we did was sleep."

I stared at her, I still had a million questions but before I could ask Mom yelled down the stairs. "Dallas you up yet?"

"Be up in a minute Mom!" I yelled back up the stairs.

**(CLARE)**

"I can't wear my torn clothes to school, what am I going to do?" It came out whinier than I had intended but I was already agitated having to calm Adam down and explain things to him.

"You don't have to just wait here a minute." Adam assured me and then he looked between me and Dallas. He grabbed the blanket off the bed leaving just a sheet to cover Dallas, and wrapped it around me, "You stay covered, I'll be back in a minute." Then he looked at Dallas, "You get dressed, in the bathroom."

Adam ran up the stairs and I walked over to the couch and sat on the arm. Dallas got up, wearing only boxers. I gazed at his buff and sculpeted nearly naked form, until my modesty got the better of me and I blushed and looked away. He came up to me wrapping an arm around the upper part of my chest.

"Did you just get bashful? You weren't bashful last night when you snuggled up to me and slept on my chest."

"Mike!"

"Just teasing, but I noticed you left out our kiss last night when you recounted everything." He chided me.

"Adam was upset enough already and all set to fight you without me telling him. I didn't think he needed another reason to be angry with you."

"Yeah speaking of which I better get dressed before Adam comes back down the stairs and tries to kill me." Then he moved my hair and placed a soft open mouth kiss on my neck.

When his lips left my skin a tingling sensation remained in their place and radiated through my body causing me to shiver slightly. Dallas didn't seem to notice as he got some clothes and entered the bathroom. A few moments later Dallas emerged fully dressed from the bathroom and Adam came down the stairs again with some girls clothes in his hands, he handed them to me.

"You can wear these, the shirt is Bianca's, she left it here last week after spilling something on it but Mom washed it. The skirt is Gracie's, I found it in the very back of my closet a few days ago, they should fit you okay."

"Thanks Adam." I smiled relieved.

He nodded and looked at Dallas, "I convinced Mom to take Dad to work and let you drive us to school. I told her you had a hockey meeting," He looked back at me, "And don't worry neither of my parents knows you're here Clare, now go get dressed."

I went back to the bed, dropping the blanket on it and picking my bra off the floor, then I went into the bathroom and set the clothes on the counter. I slipped off Dallas' shirt hanging it on the back of the door and put on my bra. I picked up the skirt and put it on, it was actually pretty and something I might have picked out for myself. It was black and flowy with pink, yellow and purple flowers on it, came to my mid-thigh and fit almost perfectly. And then I put on the shirt, the pink fabric matched pretty well with the pink of the flowers on the skirt which was lucky. But Bianca was taller, slightly skinner and definitely smaller in the bust than me. It was a tank top with thick sleeves, was about two inches too long on me, and at least a size to small, having a corset effect on my top half. I ran my fingers through my hair to brush it and tame my curls, ran some toothpaste over my teeth and opened the bathroom door. Both boys stopped talking and stared at me, mouths dropped open, eyes wide.

"It looks awful doesn't it?" I asked shifting nervously and feeling suddenly self-conscious.

"No you look…" Dallas began but Adam interrupted him.

"Fine Clare." Adam assured me but he went to the couch and grabbed my jacket putting it on me. "Just uh wear your jacket all day and keep it as closed as possible, that shirt makes your…uh…chest…just try and keep the jacket closed."

Dallas grabbed my backpack and we went out the back basement door and got in the car. Adam let me have the front seat and as soon as we were all buckled Dallas took off for school. My arm was aching around the bruise and I rubbed it gently, Dallas gave me a worried kinda look but I smiled at him and he didn't ask. We rode in relative silence, occasionally one of them would call Asher a name or say he needed to die but that was it. Dallas parked at the school and we all got out, I took my backpack this time, careful to only lift and carry it with my right arm. Dallas left us to join the hockey team and Adam and I walked into school. I garnered a few looks and a couple whistles on my way in and I closed the jacket as much as I could. We walked to our lockers and opened them just as Eli came up.

"Morning guys."

"Morning Eli." We said in unison.

I closed my locker and turned, leaning against it and waiting for the boys. Eli closed his locker a minute later and turned to me, he looked like he was about to say something and then his mouth dropped open when he saw what I was wearing and the effect it was having on my chest.

"Eli!" I waved my hand in front of his face so he would look up at me.

He blinked and shook his head, "Sorry, you look…nice today Clare."

"Thanks," I said quietly and looked at Adam, "I'm gonna grab something to eat and go to class."

My head was swimming and I wanted time to think. I walked away quickly and headed for the caf. I grabbed an apple and paid for it and walked to my first class to eat in there. I sat down leaning on the desk, absentmindedly taking bites of my apple while thinking about how I was going to get through the rest of the week with Asher.

"WESELY!" Alli's shrill voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up at a very embarrassed Wes.

I looked up at Alli confused, she sat down next to me, "He was staring at your chest she explained."

"Oh." I said shyly sitting up straight and wrapping the jacket around me as much as I could.

"What's with the top anyway?" Alli asked.

"Oh it was uh laundry day, I think this was Darcy's." I said quickly, I couldn't very well explain to Alli where I had spent the night or why I had needed to.

**(DREW)**

"Hey B!" I called to my girlfriend and she came down the DeGrassi front steps to greet me, Owen following behind.

"Hey Baby, what are you doing here?" She asked after giving me a wonderfully hot hello kiss.

"Just thought I'd come see my girl before going to work." I smiled as Bianca draped her arms around my neck. "Hey Owen, how's hockey going?"

"Hockey's good we won our game on Friday. I didn't get much ice time…"

Owen continued telling me about hockey but I was no longer listening I'd been distracted by Clare, the first thing that caught my eye was her shirt. It wasn't her style, it drew a lot of attention to her chest, but it also looked very familiar to me. Then I noticed that the skirt she was wearing was one that Grandma had given to Gracie last year.

"Drew, Drew!" Bianca called my name snapping her fingers in front of my face to grab my attention, I looked at her. "Should I be worried that you're checking out Clare Edwards?"

I kissed her softly, "I wasn't checking her out, I'm just wondering why she's wearing one of Gracie's skirts and…"

Bianca cut me off, "My shirt! I left it at your parents' house last week when I spilled pasta sauce on it."

"I knew it looked familiar."

"So what you're saying," Owen chimed in from behind us, "is that Clare is wearing clothes that came from the Torres house?"

I exchanged a look with Bianca realizing Owen was right, then I looked over to see Adam at picnic table talking with Eli of course. Bianca and Owen must have noticed him to because we all yelled for him at once.

"**ADAM**!"

He jumped a little and looked back at us confused, he turned back to Eli said something, they bumped fists and Eli walked off. Adam came up to the three of us. "Did you all have to yell? What is it?"

"Why is Clare wearing clothes from our house?" I asked pointing to her.

"Oh she uh kinda unexpectedly spent the night last night." Adam told us and then his brow furrowed as he watched her walking, "Where does she think she's going?"

He called out to her and walked up quickly catching her by the arm, we followed completely confused and extremely curious.

**(CLARE)**

I was so lost in my head, worried about co-op, hoping Asher would keep his word and stressing over having to see him again after last night that I didn't notice Adam was calling to me until he caught my arm and turned me to him.

"Where the hell are you going?" He demanded releasing my arm.

I noticed Drew, Bianca and Owen standing just behind him watching us intently, inquisitive looks on their faces. I paid no attention to them and sighed at Adam, "I have co-op Adam." I said quietly.

"You can't be serious Clare! You can't go back there!" He exclaimed loudly.

"Adam keep your voice down and I don't have a choice." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Uh what's going on?" Asked Drew.

"Did Asher do something?" Owen asked and I bit my lip and looked at the ground.

"Yes Asher fucking did something, he attacked her! Clare you can't…" Adam began but I cut him off.

"Adam!" I was upset and perturbed and had to swallow back tears. I looked at Drew, Owen and Bianca they all had a look somewhere between shock and anger on their faces. "You three can't say anything to anyone." I looked back at Adam. "I have to, he threatened me before I got out of his car last night."

Adam looked angry, he looked away from me looked around a second and then finding who was looking for called to him and I cringed.

"DALLAS!"

From the corner of my eye I saw Dallas say goodbye to Luke and a couple other Ice Hounds and come over to us, standing right at my side. "What's up?" He asked of Adam.

"She's trying to leave for co-op." Adam informed him and he looked at me.

"I don't have a choice Mike I have to go and I'm gonna be late." I was somewhere between pleading and whining. I was already stressed out about having to go to co-op and this wasn't helping

"He locked you in his car and tried to rape you! He almost ripped your clothes off!" Adam exclaimed, he looked as distressed as I felt.

"He did what!?" Bianca and Drew exclaimed together.

"Look at your arm Clare, look what he did to you!" Dallas said, his voice was angry but gentle. He carefully began pulling my jacket down on the left side, just enough to reveal the bruise. I know Drew, Bianca and Owen saw it too as I heard them all gasp and Owen let out a small string of explicits.

"I know," I pulled my jacket back up to hide the bruise, "but when he did that he also said if I didn't finish out my internship, he'd fire me. I'll fail the class if he does that. He also said he'd turn it around on me. Tell everyone I came onto him and that's why he fired me. He has e-mails, tweets and eye witnesses to back up the fact that I was excited to work with him. They'll believe him! I'll be careful, I won't stay late or go out of the office with him or be alone with him at all. I just need to make it to Friday evening, then my internship is done and I'll leave with two letter of recommendation and never have to see Asher Shostack again. Now please I have to go or I'm going to miss my bus and I can't be late." I was almost hysterical, a tear slipping down my cheek.

The others all looked at each other searching for something to say, or some way to stop me, I wasn't sure. Dallas let out a heavy defeated sigh and looked at me.

"Fine you can go but I'm going to drive you." He said.

I shook my head, "You can't miss class Mike."

"I'll drive her." Drew said and we all looked at him, "I'll call Max and tell him I'm gonna be a few minutes late, no big deal."

Dallas nodded, "Drew will take you, your back at school for lunch right?"

"Yes I'll be back at lunch but it isn't necessary for Drew to drive me." I said.

"I'm taking you I want to get a look at this guy for myself." Drew asserted.

"Yeah get a good look at him for me too babe." Bianca added.

"Call me if you need me to pick you up alright?" Dallas asked.

"I will, but I'll be fine. I'll see you at lunch." I said mustering a smile for Dallas and Adam's sake.

Drew and Bianca shared a kiss and then he and I began walking to his car.

**Update soon**


	7. Things Will Get Better

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch.7 Things Will Get Better**

**(CLARE)**

Drew began driving and we sat in an awkward sort of silence. Given the amount of time I spent at the Torres house hanging out with the younger Torres brother, and the times I'd inadvertently spent with him as a byproduct of hanging out with Adam at this point I considered Drew a friend. But it's not as though we had ever hung out together without Adam. Well minus Jake's cabin but as I spent half the night running for my life in the woods I was certain that didn't count. While we were both silent he kept glancing at me looking like he was about to say something.

"Just ask Drew." I sighed after a few minutes.

"I'm not even sure what to ask. Was the incident in the ass hole's car the first time he…"

"No." I cut him off quickly, "He kissed me last week but I didn't tell anyone. I wouldn't have told Mike or Adam either but I asked Mike to pick me up and asked if I could sleep at your house, well your parents' house, so I wouldn't have to go home and he let me sleep in his bed. He was going to sleep on the couch but I only felt safe when he was with me so he slept in the bed with me. And then well when Adam caught us in bed the next morning he was getting ready to punch Mike so I hopped up to stop him and told him nothing happened. But he demanded to know what I was doing in Mike's bed sleeping in his dress shirt so I had to tell Adam!"

I didn't know why it had been so easy to completely spill my guts to Drew but it was. I looked at him and he looked shocked. After a minute he shook his head a little as though shaking away a thought and looked at me.

"In his dress shirt?!" I smacked his arm, leave it to Drew Torres for that to be the thing he focused on. "Sorry so now this Asher guy is blackmailing you into finishing the week to finish out your internship."

"Yes I can't lose this internship and fail the class, besides if he says I came onto him…" I shuddered involuntarily as terrible thoughts ran through my head. I took a breath to compose myself. "It's four more days, one hour in the morning and two in the afternoon. Friday evening I'm done and I can put this all behind me."

"And you trust that he's not going to try something again?" Drew asked incredulously.

"No I don't but he can't really do anything in the office, my desk is in the bullpen and his private office has walls of glass. Like I said I won't stay late or go to any more events so that I'm not alone with him." I told him assertively.

Drew pulled into the parking garage and got out of the car with me. We went into the building and after telling security he was coming upstairs for a moment with me, they let us through and we got into the elevator, I pushed the button and we arrived at the interpreter office entrance a moment later.

"So where is he?" Drew asked in a hard voice.

I glanced toward Asher's office and Drew followed my gaze. I could see Asher eyeing us closely and then seemingly catching sight of my outfit for the day licking his lips just slightly as his eyes, I could see even from several yards away, glinted with lust. Apparently Drew caught this too as his arm suddenly came around my shoulders in a protective manner.

"Okay you saw him, remember you can't say anything. Thanks for the lift Drew." I said nervously as I saw Asher give Drew a hard look as soon as his arm was around me.

Drew leaned down a little and spoke softly next to me, "He just looked at you like he was a starving man and you were dinner and you want me to leave you here with him?"

"In an office full of people and you have to get to work now go." I insisted shoving him lightly. In truth I wish Drew could have stayed and been my personal body guard just in case Asher tried something.

Asher was still glaring at Drew and from the corner of my eye I saw him smile mischievously and I knew he was about to do something. "I'll get an update from Adam and Dallas later, be careful Clare."

And then he leaned down blocking my face from Asher's view and kissed my cheek, barely a peck and just for a second but it still surprised me and I jumped ever so slightly. I realized he did it for Asher's benefit and from Asher's point of view it could have looked like he actually kissed me. Drew smiled at me and walked to the elevators, I took a breath and walked to my desk, setting down my purse and sitting down. I turned on my computer and saw Asher walk out of his office toward me.

**(DALLAS)**

I watched as Clare and Drew walked away to his car. I hated the idea of her going back there, of being anywhere near that pedophile. But she was so worried about losing her internship and what he would do if she didn't come back, did I really have a choice? And anyway despite an awesome kiss and sleeping with her in my arms last night, it's not like we were a couple, we had barely been friends that long, it's not like I really had any say in what she did or didn't do. Speaking of which I had better tell Adam my feelings for her.

"So either of you guys seen this fucker?" Bianca asked.

"Yeah he dropped her off at the house the other day and I didn't like the way he was looking at her then. Oh and remember last week when she ran away from kissing Liam?" They all nodded, "Asher had kissed her the night before and she didn't tell anyone."

"I can't believe she's kept this all secret till now." Adam lamented just as the bell rang.

We all walked in to school, Bianca and Owen waved as they separated to go to their class but Adam was walking to his locker so I followed. He got to his locker and looked at me curiously.

"Listen I need to talk to you, about Clare."

Adam looked at me narrowing his eyes, "What about her?"

"Last night all we did was sleep but I do like her, a lot actually." I confessed.

"I don't know how to respond to that. I mean I don't have any say in who she dates but I found her in your bed this morning in nothing but one of your dress shirts and after her news about Asher…" He paused scrunching his face up in anger, he took a breath. "How does she feel?"

"Truthfully I'm not sure. We haven't really talked about it."

Adam looked thoughtful for a minute as the second bell rang and we began walking to our classes. "Just be good to her, if you hurt her I'll kill you and so will Eli."

"So will Eli what?" Inquired the dark haired boy suddenly appearing behind us.

"Be late for class." Adam said grabbing the boys arm and running down the hall.

"_Well either he's in to much shock after this morning or he's okay with me asking her out so that's what I'll do. Just as soon as she returns from co-op."_

**(ASHER)**

Busily in the middle of an article I became aware of two people standing by the reception desk. I looked up and my eyes were ravished by the sight of Clare. She was wearing a cute skirt and her typical denim jacket but she was also wearing a tight top that was pushing her tits up and together, giving her a generous amount of cleavage. I licked my lips wanting desperately to take her tits in my hands and suckle them. I felt my dick throb a little as it began to get hard. And then I saw the boy with her, he was a good looking guy and he put his arm around her. He glared at me and I glared back then he bent down and kissed her. I did not like this boy; I did not like him touching her delicate skin. I was determined to replace his touch with mine. Clare sat down at her desk and I went over to her. She looked up at me; fuck how I loved her innocent clear blue eyes.

"You showed up." I smiled pleased.

"Did I have a choice?" She asked hard edge to her voice.

"Who was that?" I inquired keeping my voice even and curious, careful to keep out any hint of anger and jealousy.

"Who Drew? He's…" She paused for just a second seeming to determine how to classify him. "He's a friend."

"Excellent." I smiled.

She looked away from me nervously, "Well umm I should get to my fact checking."

I nodded and walked back to my office but I watched her for a moment after sitting down again. She kept her jacket on but even so I watched as her tits heaved with each of her breaths. I envisioned bending her over the desk, pushing her skirt up, ripping her underwear off and fucking her so hard she screamed!

**(CLARE)**

I worked uncomfortably for about 45 minutes as I could feel Asher's eyes on me the whole time. I concentrated on my fact checking and refused to look back at him. I glanced around the office quickly wondering if anyone else could see him leering at me but they all looked terribly oblivious.

"Newsie." His voice behind me made me jump, I looked back at him. "I need you to go make copies of the staff meeting agenda, you'll have to copy both pages and staple them together, twenty copies. You know where the copy room is right?" He asked but his eyes never left my chest.

I pulled my denim jacket closed as much as possible and took the papers from his hand. "Yes I know where it is."

I walked past him toward the copy room which was hidden in a back corner of the office. I went in and set the papers on the copier, quickly making twenty copies. I took them and placed them on the long table next to the copier and began stapling the two pieces together. Suddenly I heard the door close and I looked behind me to see Asher standing there, his hand locking the door and a vilely lustful smile on his face. He looked me over and licked his lips and I couldn't help but be aware of the bulge in his pants. Terror enveloped me, I became frozen. My body and mind didn't seem to work, I opened my mouth but no sounds would come out.

He took a few steps toward me slowly, "Shhhh." He smiled putting a finger to his lips.

I backed up but only succeeded in hitting the table; before I could react he was in front of me. He put a hand at the small of my back and pressed me into him. Finally I found my voice and my strength.

"What are you doing?" I pleaded trying desperately to push him off of me.

He only pushed me in closer forcing me to feel his erection, even confined in his pants it made me gasp and then gag, I turned away as he leaned down kissing my cleavage. I cringed and a few tears slipped down my cheeks.

"Did you honestly think you could wear that top in front of me and not expect me to touch your big tits? They just look so deliciously enticing they are begging for me to touch them." His lecherous tone and the carnal look in his eye stabbed at me with another wave of fear.

His hot breath so close to my skin already making me shudder along with his words, I tried to scramble away but I was already backed against the table and the only thing it succeeded in doing was forcing me to sit on the table. He took the opportunity to force my legs open shoving my skirt up and pulling me forward again so that I was pressed into him. I was trembling uncontrollably from fear; I felt sick and threw up a little in my mouth. He was licking his lips seeming to decide where to begin. I wanted to scream but every time I tried the scream would disappear in my throat.

"Asher stop!" I begged in a pleading whisper, when that didn't work I tried for logic. "What if someone tries to come in?"

He stopped and seemed to consider for a moment, then he gave sort of a growling sigh. He looked me over one more time licking his lips in an evilly depraved manner and then squeezing my breasts forcefully. I let out a short pained whimper and he actually moaned as though my pain turned him on even more.

"You better stop crying before you go out there again." He said flatly and then he unlocked the door and left as though nothing had happened.

I collapsed to the floor, fixing my clothes and closing up my jacket as much as I could. I couldn't stop shaking or crying it took several minutes for me to collect myself enough to be able to go back out to the office. A fleeting thought of reporting him passed through my mind but I knew what he would do if I did and I shook it off. I made a mental note to lock the copy room door behind me if Asher or anyone ever asked me to make copies again. I went to Asher's office dropping the papers in his desk.

"I have to get back to school now." I said trying very hard to keep my voice even.

"Of course Newsie I'll see you this afternoon though right?" His very voice causing my stomach to lurch.

All I could do was nod slightly, I left his office quickly grabbing my purse and practically running from the building, I barely caught the bus that went back to DeGrassi. I took a seat in the back and clutched my purse to my chest. Tears began pushing at my eyes again and I swallowed them away but my body would not stop shivering and my breathing was shaky and coming in frightened gasps. I felt disgusting; the feel of his grimy hands and dirty lips on my skin would not go away. I was only vaguely aware that we had reached my stop and I got off. I took a deep breath walking past a few students eating lunch near the front steps. I went inside, my lunch was in my locker but after what had happened I was not hungry I only felt sick.

"Hey Clare!"

I barely registered that someone was calling my name until I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped away with a frightened gasp to look at my attacker. But there was no attacker it was only Owen looking at me, a worried curiosity on his face. I let out a relieved breath and hugged him, simply happy to be touched by someone that wasn't Asher. He hugged me back tightly for a moment and I pulled away.

"Sorry." I apologized, for the hug or for jumping away though I wasn't exactly sure.

"What's wrong? Did he touch you again?" Owen asked, he kept his voice low but it was rigid, edged with concern and anger.

I couldn't answer I looked away tying to swallow the tears again, but I began shaking a little inadvertently. Owen didn't say anything but in my peripheral vision I saw his face change, get hard and angry. He took my arm gently and pulled me toward the nearest classroom, he threw open the door surprising Dave and Connor as he did so.

Dave looked at me I could see he was worried, "Clare are you…" he began but Owen cut him off.

"You two OUT!" He demanded loudly, his commanding booming voice was enough to make Connor go running even though he'd been on the football team with Owen last season.

Dave on the other hand stayed and looked at me. "It's okay Dave." I assured him he gave Owen one last look and then left.

Owen took out his phone and called someone, "Get Dallas and Adam and meet us in the Biology classroom. He touched her again!" I deduced that he must have been calling Bianca.

A couple minutes later the door opened again and a pissed looking Bianca, a worried Adam with angry eyes and an even more concerned and angry looking Dallas came in the room. Adam rushed over and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back starting to feel safe again. Dallas pulled me to him as soon as Adam let go and turned me so that my back was to his chest and wrapped his arms around me holding me close. And I finally felt a hundred percent safe.

"Drew told me how that creep looked at you and licked his lips when you got there." Bianca stated an acrid tone to her voice. "So what did that slime ball do now?"

I swallowed hard to keep back the tears and pressed into Dallas a little more. "I'm still going to my afternoon shift and you guys still can't say anything to anyone and that includes Drew." I asserted looking at Bianca to make sure she would pass it on to Drew.

"Fine our lips are sealed." Bianca said and the others nodded.

I took a deep breath and Dallas strengthened his hold on me. "He asked me to make copies and I went to the copy room it's in a back corner of the office and a few minutes later he followed me and locked the door behind him." I paused to take a shaky breath and looked at a spot on the floor I couldn't seem to look at their faces as I told them. "He cornered me against the table said that I was asking to be touched because of how I was dressed and kissed my breast, I tried to get away and he just pressed me closer. I finally got him to stop but he squeezed my breasts really hard and then left the room."

Owen punched his fist on the desk and I finally looked up. Bianca was red, from anger I assumed her fists clenched. "I'm calling Drew." She said pulling out her phone and walking to the back of the classroom.

"Clare you can't possibly go back." Adam pleaded, his face was soft but his blue eyes were filled with anger and worry.

"Adam I have to we discussed this already. If he asks me to make more copies I'll lock the door behind me."

Adam sighed, "I don't like this but fine. I'm going to go finish my lunch and pretend like everything's fine as I sit across from Eli." He said sarcastically with an incensed tone. He went to the door but paused at the handle and turned back. "You're still coming over to work on our project right?"

"Yes right after co-op." I assured him quietly.

"Adam and I will pick you up from co-op." Dallas said and Adam smiled before exiting the room. "Have you eaten?" Dallas asked me when Adam had left.

I shook my head, "After that I just feel sick, not hungry."

**(ADAM)**

I returned to my lunch and Eli; inside I was boiling mad, if it was up to me we would all go to the Interpreter office together and beat Asher fucking Shostock to a bloody pulp for touching Clare. But I couldn't let it show through, I couldn't tell Eli.

He looked at me as I sat down again, "What did Bianca want?"

"Oh uh she wanted to know what to get Drew for their one month anniversary." I lied.

"Dave said Owen kicked him and Connor out of a classroom to be alone with Clare. You don't think he and Clare are seeing each other do you? I mean he did ask her something in the hall few days ago and she went to that hockey game." Eli commented.

"Clare and Owen no way!" I shook my head unsure of how to tell Eli that they were becoming friends without telling him why. Then remembering seeing Clare that morning in Dallas' bed, cuddled up to him in nothing but his shirt, and Dallas' earlier confession I looked at Eli. "But Dallas likes her and he's gonna ask her out."

"Oh." Was all he said and his expression was hard to read.

**(CLARE)**

After Adam left and Bianca was still on the phone with Drew, I turned to Dallas. "I should get my books and go to class Mike, the bell will ring soon."

He looked at me a moment and then nodded. "Adam has co-op afterschool too so I'll drop you both off and we'll both pick you up." He said still holding me.

I nodded and slipped out of his arms, I could feel Dallas and Owen both watching me as I left the classroom. I walked to my locker to get my books and Dave came up to me.

"Hey Clare are you okay what did Owen want with you?"

"I'm fine Dave Owen is helping me with something that's all" I told him.

He looked unsure but smiled a little and walked away. I walked to my next class and sat at my desk waiting for class to begin. I may have been sitting calmly but my mind was going a million miles an hour as it ran through several terrible scenarios of what Asher might to do to me this afternoon. When the teacher came in I scolded myself internally. _"Stop it Clare that's not doing you any good. Stop thinking about Asher, things will get better."_

**Remember I warned you all that Asher wou be more vile than on the show. **

**I'll try and update agin this weekend.**


	8. You and Me

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Now I know all of you are just dying for Asher to die, or at least get the hockey team to beat him up and I promise you he will get what's coming to him; eventually. But it'll be a while I'm not doen with him yet, his vileness is essential to this story.**

**Ch.8 You and Me**

**(CLARE)**

"Are you sure about this Clare?" Adam asked me as we sat in the Torres minivan while Dallas drove us to our respective co-ops for afternoon shifts.

"Adam I have to go back I told you. I'll be careful." I tried to assure him.

"Okay fine but we'll pick you up right after and you're coming over to work on the project so if he does anything at all I expect to hear about it." Adam said just as we pulled up to his co-op, which happened to be at Bullfrog's radio station.

"I promise Adam." I waved to him as he got out and Dallas began driving me to the Interpreter office. We drove in silence the whole way and he pulled up to the front steps. "Thanks for the ride Mike, see you in a couple hours." I smiled putting my hand on the handle and moving to exit the car.

"Clare," He said and I stopped and looked back at him. "I know we've already kissed and last night we shared a bed and you slept in my shirt, on my chest so this is kind of going backwards but would you go out with me?"

My eyes widened and I blinked at him, "You and me on a date?"

He smiled and I had to smile back, "That's usually what go out means."

I laughed and could feel myself blush a little. "A date sounds nice."

"Cool. We have a game on Friday so how's Saturday?" He asked.

"Saturday's perfect." I replied and my smile widened, I opened the door about to get out when he caught my hand.

"And this time I'll get you a ticket to the game myself." He told me when I looked back at him.

"Can't wait, just make sure I can sit with Tristan and Maya again, I don't know anyone else." I requested.

He chuckled a little, "Sure thing I'll coordinate with Owen and Cam." I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "We'll pick you up right here at five."

I exited the minivan and went inside; I spent the whole elevator ride steeling my nerves to see Asher again after that morning, but as it turned out there was no need. He wasn't at his desk and when I got to mine I found my tasks for that afternoon in a very professional e-mail from him saying that he was out on assignment. I finished out my shift got my sheet signed by Asher's boss, briefly thought about telling her but of course didn't, worried about the backlash from him. Then gathered my things and left the building, waiting on the front steps for Dallas and Adam to pick me up.

"Newsie what are you doing out here?" His voice made me jump and I looked over to see him walking up the steps and coming very close to me.

Both his proximity and the vile smile he had on his face made me shudder and gag internally. "Just waiting for my ride, they should be here any minute." I informed him looking back to the street.

"If you need a ride I'd be happy to give you a lift." Asher said touching my shoulder.

I shrugged his hand off just as an angry Adam appeared at my side and glared at Asher. "Don't touch her." He said through clenched teeth.

Suddenly there was an arm around me and I knew it was Dallas. "Asher this is my best friend Adam and Mike he's…"

"Her boyfriend." Dallas cut me off and then bent down and kissed me.

I quickly put my arm around his neck and kissed him back, it wasn't as long or as passionate as the night before, we pulled away after just a few seconds, but I knew he was doing it to try and intimidate Asher. After we pulled away Dallas kept his arm around me.

Asher just smiled and held out his hand to them, Adam continued to glare at him but Dallas shook it, gripping his hand firmly. "Nice to meet you both Clare is…" He paused roving his eyes over me; both boys caught this gesture as they both tensed at my sides. "A wonderful girl, very bright. You're a lucky guy."

"Yes I know." Dallas replied in callous tone.

Fearing that one of the boys might soon punch Asher I decided I better diffuse this fast. "We should get going we have to work on our project." I said pulling at Adam's sleeve.

Dallas gave Asher one more harsh look and the three of us turned and began walking to the minivan when Asher called out, "See you tomorrow Newsie."

I cringed and Dallas and Adam both tensed again and clenched their fists. Dallas kept his arm around me until we reached the car and he opened the passenger door for me. Once we all climbed in and were safely buckled he began driving and I looked at him.

"So boyfriend huh? And we haven't even been on our first date." I chided.

He smiled and looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry that was really just trying to scare him off but I don't think it worked. We can discuss the boyfriend status after our date on Saturday."

"Sounds good." I agreed and then remembering Adam was in the backseat turned to look at him. "You're okay with this right Adam?"

He looked surprised, "I don't have any right to tell you who to date and who not to."

"I know, but you live with him and you're my best friend I don't want it to be weird for you." I said.

"Weird was finding you barely clothed and in his bed this morning." He commented and then sighed, "Dallas is a good guy Clare and he already told me he liked you and he would ask you out. Not that you need it but if you like him then you have my blessing."

I smiled, "Thanks Adam."

We rode in silence a few minutes and then Dallas said. "Clare I really don't think you should go back there. Did you see the way he eye raped you? He didn't even back out after I said I was your boyfriend."

"I agree." Adam said just as we pulled up to the house and we all got out and started walking round to the basement. "We could go to Miss Oh and…

"No we can't." I cut him off, "We've discussed this Adam. I can't tell anyone you two shouldn't even know. If he turns it around on me…just no I only have to make it through three more days."

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Connor asked coming up behind us.

"Nothing!" I said quickly as Dallas opened the basement door.

We went inside and Adam closed the door the three of us sat down and pulled out our things for the project, we worked a few minutes and the basement door opened again and Bianca and Owen came in.

"Hey." Owen greeted.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Came to do homework." Bianca said. "How was co-op?"

"It was fine he wasn't even there." I told them.

"No but he was on the steps with her when we picked her up." Dallas said through clenched teeth. "You should have seen…"

"Mike stop we have to work on our project and if you three are going to do homework then do it." I cut him off.

"Ummm is everything okay?" Connor questioned confused.

"Everything's fine." I snapped and when he jumped I softened, "Let's get back to work."

Owen and Bianca sat with Dallas on the couch behind us and got out their books and the six of us succeeded in quietly working silently for a while.

"Clare if we all back you up…" Adam began but I cut him off.

"It won't help and I said no! I'm not discussing this anymore can we please get back to work?" I pleaded.

The others looked like they were about to chime in but we heard the front door open and a moment later Audra Torres came down the stairs.

"Hi kids." She greeted from the bottom step.

"Hi Mrs. Torres." Owen and Connor said one after another.

"Hi Audra," Bianca and I said together.

"Hi Mom." Said Adam and Dallas did a sort of half wave half salute.

"Is everyone staying for dinner?" Audra asked.

"No I need to get going, I'm meeting Drew at the loft." Bianca said grabbing her books and putting them in her backpack.

"Snake should be here any minute to get me." Connor said and then the doorbell rang and he grabbed his stuff and ran upstairs after a quick goodbye.

"Yeah I should get home too." I said after Connor left the basement.

"Yeah me too, Mom hates it when I'm late." Owen stated putting his books away. "Your house is on the way I can give you a lift home Clare."

"Okay thanks Owen." I replied putting my books away as well.

"You and Connor can come back tomorrow to work on the project." Adam remarked, I smiled and nodded.

Bianca, Owen and I said our goodbyes and we left the Torres house. Bianca waved as she got into her car and we climbed into Owen's.

"So what'd that pedophile bastard do this time?" Owen asked after we'd been driving a short time.

"He wasn't even there for my shift but while waiting for Adam and Mike he came up to me on the stairs. He touched my shoulder and they came beside me, Mike said he was my boyfriend but Asher didn't seem fazed. He told Mike he was a lucky guy as he looked me over in a…lustful sort of way." I explained.

"So knowing Dallas is your boyfriend didn't get him to back off that doesn't surprise me. I mean if he doesn't care that your underage of course he's not going to care…wait so you guys are official now?" He asked.

I laughed a little, "Well no he just said it to try and make Asher stop but we are going to have our first date on Saturday."

"Good." Owen smiled proudly.

"Thanks by the way for the ticket to the game last week. It was nice of you." I complimented.

"Sure no problem."

"You know you're really not a bad guy. Last year you were kind of a jerk but now that I know you you're really quite nice." I praised.

"Yeah last year I was going through some stuff." He admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah Tristan told me." I disclosed to him, he nodded and we were silent for a few minutes until we pulled up to my house. I turned to open the door but stopped and turned back to him. "You don't have to be a part of this you know? You, Drew or Bianca, this isn't your battle. Adam is my best friend and well he probably would have found out sooner or later. And Mike is my friend now too and I did kinda involve him when I asked him to pick me up last night, but really I shouldn't have said anything to either of them. I know Adam kinda inadvertently dragged you three into this but…"

He cut me off, "But that pedophile has put his dirty hands on you and that's not okay with me and Bianca and Drew feel the same way so yes it is our battle. Besides I'd like to think we were becoming friends too."

I smiled, "We are and thanks Owen."

He smiled back at me and then looked behind me, "Does he always do that?"

I turned my head to see Jake leaning in the doorway watching us carefully, I turned back to Owen. "Yeah he took pretty fast to the protective older brother roll. Thanks for the ride Owen, see you tomorrow." I got out of his car and waved to him and he drove off.

"Why is it every time you get dropped off it's by one of the Ice Hounds?" Jake asked suspiciously.

I shrugged "Owen and Mike are my friends and they happen to be around when I need a ride."

I stepped into the house and he followed me to the kitchen as I got out the plate Mom had set aside for me in the fridge.

"And just when did you become such great friends with half the hockey team?" He asked as I put my plate in the microwave and set the timer.

"Mike and Owen are hardly half the hockey team." I rolled my eyes. "Besides Mike lives with Adam remember who happens to be one of my best friends."

"Yeah but…wait! When did you start calling him Mike, everyone calls him Dallas."

The microwave beeped and I pulled my plate out and thought about it, I had started calling him Mike last night but there was no way I was about to explain that all to Jake. "I don't know yesterday or today what does it matter?"

I sat down at the table to eat and he followed me to the table. "Okay what about Owen?"

"Owen is a nice guy and he gave me a ticket to the hockey game last Friday." I told him, I wasn't exactly sure how to explain the rest of how Owen became my friend without delving into the Asher stuff and again that was not happening.

"You went to the hockey game last Friday and Owen gave you the ticket?" Jake questioned slowly.

"That's right." I nodded taking another bite.

"Is he into you or something?"

I looked up at him. "Owen no he's just a friend, he gave me the ticket for Mike. By the way I have a date with him on Saturday and I'll be going to their game again on Friday."

Jake just kind of stared at me a while as I ate. "Did you tell your Mom?"

"No he just asked me out this afternoon." I informed him finishing my dinner, getting up and putting my plate in the sink. "I'm gonna go shower."

**(ADAM)**

Mom dropped me and Dallas off at school, he went to his hockey team and I went inside to my locker, Clare was already there at her own locker.

"Hey Clare." I greeted.

She peeked out from her locker and smiled at me. "Hey Adam." She took out another book, closed her locker and leaned against it.

"Listen Clare about your co-op…" I started but she interrupted me.

"Adam please I'm not arguing with you about this again."

"I know. I don't like it but I know I can't talk you out of it. I was just going to say to text me or Dallas when you get there and when you leave this morning and if that bastard tries anything while you're there." I requested of her.

She bit her lip something she always did when she was nervous or thinking hard. "I will Adam, but he probably won't even be there and I'll be careful."

This really wasn't comforting to me at all. "Yeah sure. Dallas and me will pick you up again from your afternoon shift and bring you to our house so we can work on the project. I think Owen and Bianca will be over again to do homework, they might come with us."

She smiled sweetly, "As long as none of you say anything or try and do anything. But it couldn't hurt to have some more people just in case…"

I saw her eyes get worried, fearful and sad and I put an arm around her shoulders. "Clare what about Eli?"

She looked at me, "Adam you didn't tell him?"

"No I haven't said anything but he's one of your best friends too, he cares about you don't you think…"

She cut me off, "No Adam you can't say anything to anyone and that includes Eli."

I sighed, "Fine but every time I look at Eli I want to tell him, this isn't going to be easy to keep from him, but I won't say a word."

"Thanks Adam." She kissed my cheek lightly, "I should get to class." She said and walked off down the hall.

I leaned against the lockers, closing my eyes and sighed.

"Won't tell me what?" Eli's voice next to me made me jump and I opened my eyes to look at him. His eyes were narrowed and his mouth set in a hard thin line as he eyed me intently. "You two aren't…"

I threw my hands up to get him stop, "Dude no! No way! Clare is my best friend as always."

"Then what is going on? What doesn't she want me to know?" He inquired still giving me a hard look.

I heaved a sigh and put my head down, "I can't tell you, she doesn't want me to. I can't betray her trust." I looked back at him. "How long were you listening anyway?"

"Long enough to know that there's something she's afraid for me to know and you've agreed to keeping said secret. What is she so afraid to tell me? Is she seeing someone, does she think I'll react badly to her dating someone new? She dated Jake last year after we broke up and I was fine with it." He commented.

I looked at him astonished. "Oh yeah so fine with it you wrote a play to get her back and made Jake the bad guy in it after changing the ending for the millionth time." I said sarcastically.

"Okay okay point taken but I got help and made up for that." He pointed out as the bell rang.

"Yeah you're right but that's not what she doesn't want you to know. That I can tell you." I said as we began walking to our classes.

"Then she is seeing someone." He asked stopping at the door to his classroom.

"Remember how I told you Dallas likes her and he was going to ask her out?" He nodded. "Well he did and she accepted, they have a date on Saturday, and I'm pretty sure she's going to the hockey game again on Friday."

"That's good." He said slowly. "Good for her, it's about time she moved on from Jake." Then he turned and went into class.

I couldn't tell if he was truly happy for her or not, no time to think about it right now though I had to get to my own class.

**(CLARE)**

I arrived for morning co-op shift and texted Adam and Dallas both that I was there. They both texted back to be safe, then I sat down at my desk and turned on my computer.

"Newsie can you come here a minute?" Asher requested.

I internally cringed but his walls were made of glass so even with the door to his office closed it's not as though he could touch me, he would be caught. I got up and went into his office and he closed the door behind me and sat down at his desk.

"Yes?" I asked keeping my face even but I realized my fists were clenched.

"You never told me you had a boyfriend."

"_Seriously he called me in here to talk about Mike?!" _My fists clenched a little tighter but I kept my face calm. "You never asked and I didn't think my personal relationships had anything to do with my workplace."

He smiled noxiously, "No it doesn't. That'll be all." He waved me off like I was a servant girl or something but when I got to the door he spoke again. "Oh and Newsie I liked your outfit yesterday better."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath but didn't reply, just left his office. As soon as I got back to my desk I took out my phone and sent another text to Dallas and Adam.

**Just remember Asher will eventually get whats coming to him.**

**Update soon.**


	9. Just Another Day

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Sorry it's a bit of a filler chapter but it was necessary**

**Ch.9 Just Another Day**

**(CLARE)**

After sending the text to Dallas and Adam about Asher's lewd comment, Adam texted me back right away with an angry face emoticon, which in Adam speak meant he was too angry to type back. It took Dallas several minutes to text back and I was beginning to think he wouldn't until my phone beeped.

**Dallas: Owen and I will pick you up.**

**Clare: I can take the bus.**

**Dallas: We're picking you up princess.**

I bit my lip, smiled and felt butterflies in my stomach; I loved it when he called me princess.

**Clare: If you insist see you in 45 min.**

**Dallas: I insist.**

While I did kind of feel like a burden making Owen drive all the way downtown to pick me up, I was glad that they were coming to get me on the off chance that Asher tried anything when my shift was over. I could feel Asher's eyes on me as I began working and I had a happy little day dream of Owen and Dallas both punching Asher's lights out when they came to pick me up and smiled to myself.

Thankfully, other than being able to feel his eyes on me practically the whole time I worked, Asher never left his office for my whole shift. As soon as the clock hit twelve I grabbed my stuff and waved to Asher to let him know I was leaving. I exited the building and saw Owen's black suburban parked near the front steps. Dallas saw me, waved and he got out opening the back door for me.

"So he behaved after his comment about how you were dressed?" Dallas asked when Owen began driving.

"I could feel him watching me but that was it." I informed them.

"We'll all pick you up from your afternoon shift." Owen told me, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

"We all who?" I queried.

"Us plus Bianca and Adam." He said.

I nodded and we drove the rest of the way to school in relative silence. "Thanks for the ride guys, I'm gonna grab my lunch from my locker and go eat with Adam and Eli." I told them as we started walking back into the school.

They waved and I turned down the hall to my locker.

**(DALLAS)**

Clare left us and we went to the lunch room, after purchasing lunch we joined the rest the team at our usual table. They all gave us a semi-curious look for being late but no one said anything about it. Lunch was almost over when the coach came in with a handful of tickets for us to give to friends and family for Friday's game.

"Oh hey Clare wanted to make sure she sits with Tristan and Maya again." I said to Owen and Campbell.

Luke was sitting next to me, he heard and chuckled a little. "You two dating yet?"

"Actually we have our first date on Saturday." I said and he smiled.

Owen grabbed the whole pile of tickets and went through them. "Here's three together." He said handing one to me, one to Cam and keeping one for himself.

"Thanks, I'm gonna go find Clare and give her this." I said getting up from the table.

Seeing as classes were going to start soon I figured I'd start at her locker and sure enough there she was, talking with Adam and Eli. I strolled up, Clare had her back to me but Adam and Eli saw me coming.

"Hey Dallas." Adam greeted.

Eli gave me a quick up nod to acknowledge my presence and Clare turned around and smiled at me, her face lighting up, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Hey here's your ticket to Fridays game, Owen made sure the three of you were sitting together again." I told her handing her the ticket.

"You three?" Eli asked cocking an eyebrow.

Clare took the ticket and turned to look at Eli. I took a step closer to her and draped my arms on her shoulders.

"Me, Tristan and Maya, I sat with them last time." She explained to him.

"You know you live with us and I've only been to your opening game. How come I never get a ticket?" Adam asked mocking a pout.

"You never asked, but if you guys want I'll get the three of you tickets to next week's game." I offered.

Adam looked at Eli and he kinda nodded. "Cool." Was Adam's only reply.

The sudden sound of the bell made Clare jump a little under my arms and I smiled.

"We better get to class." She said. She turned to look at me again and I took my arms from her shoulders. "Thanks for the ticket Mike." She smiled and reached up placing a small gentle kiss on my cheek, and then she turned and walked down the hall with the two boys.

**(CLARE)**

When school let out Adam, Bianca, Dallas, Owen and I got in Owen's SUV and they dropped Adam and me off at our respective co-ops. Dallas and I were sitting in the back seat and he got out to let me out when we pulled up to the interpreter building.

"We'll be doing homework down the street at the diner so if Asher tries anything call or text me right away and we'll come back for you. We'll say it's an emergency so you can leave." Dallas instructed me.

"I will, I'll see you guys in a couple of hours." I waved to them all as Dallas got back in the SUV and I watched them drive down the street.

Other than leering at me with carnal depravity when I walked in and lingering his hand on my arm a little too long when he left to go do an interview, I had no further problems with Asher for my afternoon shift. Mostly due to the fact that he wasn't there. When my shift ended Dallas and the others were waiting for me in Owen's SUV. We drove to Adam's house and I told them that Asher wasn't there for the most part which is why I had no problems with him. When we got to the Torres house Connor was waiting for me and Adam, he gave us all a curious look as we all piled out of Owen's car but he didn't say anything.

We all went in to the basement, the older kids sitting on the couch finishing their homework, and the three of us sitting around the coffee table putting the finishing touches on our project. It only took half an hour for us to finish our project and as soon as we were done Connor called Snake to pick him up. He offered me a ride but before I could say anything Owen said he was taking Bianca home anyway so he'd drop me off. When Snake arrived to get Connor we all said our goodbyes and left. Bianca sat in the front seat and talked with Owen the whole way to my house. Owen parked the car and I hopped out, thanking Owen for the ride and saying I'd see them tomorrow in school. They waved and drove off and I went in the house, my family was sitting on the couch watching TV and they all looked up at me.

"Hi sweetie, I put a plate for you in the fridge." Mom smiled at me.

"Thanks Mom." I said going to the fridge, getting out the plate and popping it in the microwave. When it beeped I took it out and sat down at the table. "Oh Mom I have a date on Saturday. You don't know him but he's coming to pick me up so you'll meet him then."

"What's his name dear?" She asked with mild curiousity.

"Mike Dallas, he's one of the Ice Hounds." I apprised them.

"Sounds nice Clare, we look forward to meeting him." Glen said and my Mom nodded in agreement.

I saw Jake chuckle slightly and I stuck my tongue out at the back of his head.

**(ADAM)**

I walked to my locker and found Clare already at hers. "Hey Clare ready to present our project today?" I asked as I opened my locker.

"We worked hard on it, besides the three of us are so smart how could we not get an A?" She said with a slight edge of sarcasm and giggled a little, closing her locker and leaning against it.

I laughed and then noticed Fiona putting up a poster nearby. "Hey Fiona, what's that for?"

She turned around and gave me a smile, "Student council is putting on a costume ball next Saturday."

"Costume ball that could be fun." Clare smiled biting her lower lip.

"I bet even Eli would go to that." I commented thinking he and I would go stag.

Fiona was looking at Clare and smiling knowingly, I had a feeling Drew had told her about Dallas and Clare.

"Well I gotta go put all these up, see you guys later." Fiona sighed and walked down the hall.

I turned back to my locker and continued sorting through my books, in my peripheral vision I saw a black shirt and knew Eli was at his locker. "Hey Eli." I closed my locker and leaned against it waiting for him.

"Hey guys, you finish your project for Mr. Bettancamp's class?" He asked bumping lightly into Clare's arm but she made a short shriek and I realized Eli hit her bruise. His head immediately shot out of his locker to look at her.

She un-scrunched her pained face and smiled at him. "I'm fine Eli, you didn't hurt me, I already had a bruise there."

He was able to lift her sleeve on her short sleeve shirt just a bit before she batted his hand away and smoothed the sleeve back down. It was enough for him to see though as I saw his posture tense a little.

"A bad one! Clare what happened?" He inquired.

She glanced at me, 'tell him' I mouthed to her but she bit her lip and shook her head just slightly.

"I fell getting out of the bathtub the other day." She lied and I scowled at her.

I wish she would just tell him, he's her best friend too and he was her first love, he cares about her and I feel like he has a right know. It wasn't my call though and I had already semi accidently blabbed it to Drew, Bianca and Owen.

"Clare…" Eli began but she cut him off.

"Eli I slipped." She snapped at him and I saw him shrink back just the slightest bit.

Before Eli could start arguing with her Clare's phone rang. She pulled it out, looked at it and then looked at me with fear in her eyes before answering.

"Hey…Yes of course I am…I don't think…Everyone?...Ok…Sure see you in a while Mr. Shostack…right ok see you in a while Asher." Clare hung up and looked at us biting her lip.

As soon as she said his name my fists clenched. "What was that about?" I asked tersely.

"It's fine Adam, Asher just convinced his boss to let me come to their lunch meeting today." She said.

"Clare no you…" I started to protest but she interrupted me.

"Adam almost the whole senior staff is going, they're meeting clients, it's at a restaurant downtown so we're all walking it'll be fine. But I'm going to have to go home and change at morning break; he said to be dressed professionally." She tried to assure me.

"What did he say exactly?" I asked.

Eli looked at me and back to her and I could tell he knew something was up.

Clare sighed, "He said he did me a favor and convinced his boss to let me come along for the meeting as it would be good experience for me."

"A favor." I scoffed.

"Okay what's going on?" Eli asked.

Clare looked at him, "Nothing Eli, Adam's just being paranoid."

She tried to walk away but Eli caught her wrist lightly. "Clare I know something's going on. Your hiding a giant dark bruise, you looked scared when you got the phone call. Please just tell me?"

"Eli nothing's going on please let me go." She requested a slightly pleading tone to her voice.

Suddenly Dallas was standing in front of them, eyeing them closely, he didn't look angry just curious. "Everything okay?" He asked.

Eli instantly let go of her wrist and looked at Dallas.

"Everything's fine Mike." She assured him.

"Clare needs a ride home at morning break to change." I spoke up and she glared at me. Hey if she wasn't going to tell Eli all that was going on she was at least going to tell Dallas about the lunch.

"I saw you two get dropped off this morning so you have no car. Jake can give me a ride." She insisted.

"Owen and Bianca both drove today one of them can take us, let's go find them." Dallas asserted placing a hand at the small of her back and directing her down the hall.

We watched them walk away and Eli turned to me. "Adam what's going on? What isn't she telling me?"

"I can't tell you Eli, she doesn't want me to." I sighed.

"Adam please I know something's going on with her. Asher's her boss at her co-op right? Why did she look scared when he called?" Eli begged me as we walked down the hall.

"Eli I can't I wish I could but I can't betray her trust. I kept your secret about Julia I'm keeping this one for Clare. She doesn't want anyone to know and the few of us who do mostly found out by accident. If she wants you to know she'll tell you. I gotta get to class." I excused myself and walked away quickly.

**(CLARE)**

"So why do you need to go home and change?" Dallas asked me as we walked away from Eli and Adam.

"Asher convinced his boss to let me come with them to their lunch meeting. So I have to go home and change into more professional dress." I explained.

"Clare you…" He started to argue but I cut him off.

"Mike it's not a private lunch, it's a lunch meeting with half the senior staff and clients. It's at a public restaurant downtown to which we are all walking. I'm not going to be alone with him, it'll be fine and I'll be back after lunch." I justified.

He sighed, "I don't like this but if you insist then fine. What restaurant are you going to?"

"I'm not sure, he didn't say, some Italian place downtown." I confessed just as the bell rang.

"As soon as you know text it to me, I'll get Owen or Bianca to drive us to your house at morning break so you can change and then we'll eat lunch at the same restaurant just in case that ass hole tries something. Now get to class." He instructed me.

"Thanks Mike." I smiled and stood on my tip toes, putting my hand on his shoulder for leverage and planted a quick soft kiss on his lips before hurrying down the hall to my class.

**(DALLAS)**

Clare gave me a gentle almost shy kiss before running down the hall. I watched her go for a minute and then turned to go to science class, which luckily I had with both Owen and Bianca. I made it into class just before the late bell rang and sat down at our table.

"Hey Clare needs a ride home at morning break can one of you take us?" I asked after the teacher started talking.

"I'll take you." Bianca said.

"Why's she need a ride?" Owen questioned.

"She has to change into more professional looking clothes to go to a lunch meeting with the Interpreter staff." I told them.

They both looked at me shocked. "Your letting her go?" Owen asked after a few seconds of silence.

"She doesn't exactly need my permission to do anything; we're not even dating yet. Look she told me that most of the senior staff was going and they're meeting clients, so she won't be alone with him. She said they were going to an Italian restaurant downtown; she's gonna text me the name of it as soon she knows. I told her we'd eat at the same restaurant in case he tried anything."

"Damn right we're eating at the same restaurant." Bianca said a little too loudly because the teacher turned to look at us.

"Miss DeSousa, Mr. Dallas, Mr. Milligan please pay attention." The teacher warned us and then turned back to the blackboard.

We were quiet for the rest of class, when it was over Bianca said for me and Clare to meet her on the front steps at morning break. I nodded and walked to English class, I sat down at my desk and Fiona came over to me.

"Hi Dallas."

"Hey." I greeted.

"So have you seen the posters all over the school for the costume ball?" She asked.

I cocked my eyebrow at her, "Yeah what about them?"

"Well Drew told me about your date with Clare on Saturday and I'm assuming that will go well since I've seen you two together a lot the last few days. Anyway Clare expressed an interest in going, I just thought you'd like to know." She smiled and went to sit down at her desk.

I grinned, _"Costume ball huh? Hmmmm that could be fun."_

**(CLARE)**

"I'm just gonna run up and change, you two stay here." I instructed Dallas and Bianca.

I got out of Bianca's car, unlocked our front door and ran up to my room. I quickly picked out a blue knee length skirt, grabbed a matching blazer and cream colored blouse. Grabbing some tights from my drawer I quickly changed, slipped on my blue 2 inch heels and ran back downstairs. I locked the door again and got back into the front seat of Bianca's car.

"Well you certainly look professional." Bianca said eyeing me as I got in the car.

She started driving and we made it back to school just in time for me to catch my bus and them to get to class. The bus pulled up to the stop near the interpreter office and I got off. I saw Carol, one of the senior staff members walking up the stairs and I asked her where we were having our lunch meeting. She gave me the name of the restaurant and I got out my phone and texted it to Dallas.

**Dallas: Me, Drew, Bianca and Owen will all be there.**

**Clare: Thanks. I doubt he'll do anything in a public place but I'll still feel safer with you there. **

**Dallas: Of course princess.**

I put away my phone and smiled, my smile quickly turned to a scowl when I stepped out of the elevator and saw the way Asher was looking at me. I ignored him and went to my desk.

"_Just two more days of this." _I reminded myself silently, _"Tomorrow evening I'm done and I never have to see Asher again."_

**Update Soon starting with her lunch meeting with Asher and the Interpreter staff**


	10. I Am Here For You

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch.10 I Am Here For You**

**(CLARE)**

"Come on Newsie time to leave for the lunch meeting." Asher said to me waving his arm for me to follow.

It was the look he gave me though that had me worried, it wasn't even a carnal or lustful look like most of the looks he gave me. I'm not quite sure how to describe it but it gave me the chills and had me worried. I grabbed my purse and followed the senior staff members out of the Interpreter office, while I texted Dallas.

**Clare: You guys are still coming to lunch right?**

**Dallas: On our way now Princess. Why did he do something?**

**Clare: Good and no not yet but he gave me a look and I just don't trust him right now.**

**Dallas: I don't trust him ever around you, we're almost there and Drew may be there already he was coming from work.**

**Clare: K see you in a few.**

I put away my phone and we walked the few blocks to the restaurant, Asher tried to walk beside me but I wasn't about to have that. I sped up a few paces to catch up with Carol and quickly started a conversation with her.

"I love your shoes Carol where did you get them?" I could care less about her shoes which looked like something Alli would wear but anything was better than walking with Asher.

"Oh thanks Clare there's this fabulous boutique store downtown I got them there." She smiled at me and I nodded.

"Cool I'll have to check it out." I replied.

"So Clare do you have a boyfriend?" She asked me.

I was going to say no, after all Dallas and I weren't a couple, we were supposed to discuss that after our first official date on Saturday, but then remembering that Asher was just behind us and Dallas had told him he was my boyfriend I stopped myself.

"Yes I do his name is Mike, he's the captain of our school's hockey team." I told her.

She didn't have time to ask me any more questions because we'd arrived at the restaurant. Dallas and the others were already at a table in the corner. I waved to them and we got seated at a large table, made of several smaller ones put together. To my dismay but not shock, Asher sat right next to me and I couldn't see Dallas or the others from where I was, meaning they couldn't see me, and I didn't like that. I didn't have time to worry about it as the clients we were meeting were shown to our table, they sat down we ordered and the meeting began. I sat back and listened to the clients and the Interpreter staff talking while we waited for our food to be brought. And then I felt a hand on my knee and knew it was Asher. No one was paying attention to me so I slowly reached my hand up and discreetly grabbed my fork, I brought it under the table and jabbed it into Asher's hand. He jerked his hand back hitting the table, nearly tipping over his wine glass and the meeting stopped and everyone looked at him.

I had to bite down on my lower lip very hard to keep from laughing and I saw Asher's boss eyeing him suspiciously which I thought was good.

"You alright Asher?" Asked one of his co-workers.

"Yes sorry my hand bumped under the table and I think I hit a splinter or nail, I'm just going to go to the washroom and have a look at it if you'll excuse me." He said getting up and giving me a dirty look as he did so.

I got up too thinking no one would notice but Carol did, "Going to the washroom too Clare?" She asked and several other people at the table looked at me.

"No I'm just going to say hello to my boyfriend and my friends they're eating here as well." I said and Carol smiled.

I walked to Dallas' table and stood next to his chair, placing my arm on the back of it and my hand on his shoulder, they all looked at me.

"How's lunch going?" Bianca asked.

"It was going fine until Asher put his hand on my leg." I told them. Dallas' face changed from happy to hard and set to kill in an instant and he started getting up. I moved around a little putting both my hands on his shoulders and gently pushing him back down. "Don't Mike, I already stabbed his hand with my fork. I came over here to say hi, to get away from him for a minute and to erase his touch from skin."

Dallas smiled again and pulled me onto his lap. I smiled too and nuzzled into him just a bit, draping my arm around his neck. He wrapped one arm around my waist and placed the other over my legs and his touch did erase Asher's. We stayed like that a couple of moments and then I tried to get up but Dallas held me tight.

"He touched you at a table full of people; I don't think you should go back there." He asserted.

"I stabbed him with my fork and his boss looked at him suspiciously, I think she's starting to suspect something. I doubt he'll try anything else and if he does I'll come right over." I promised pushing up from him to stand again and this time he let me go.

"If he touches you under the table again I'm not sure you can stop us all from killing him." Owen said and the others nodded in agreement.

I smiled at them and went back to the Interpreter table, resuming my seat next to Asher. I ate my lunch and Asher didn't try anything else but I did notice his boss watching him closely. When I finished my lunch the meeting was still going on, I looked at the clock on my phone and realized I had to leave to get back to school. Apparently Dallas and the others did too because I saw them lingering near the door and Dallas came over to our table.

"Excuse me, sorry for interrupting but Clare has to get back to school." He said as he pulled out my chair for me.

Asher's boss looked at her watch, "Yes of course we'll see you this afternoon Clare."

I smiled and nodded and Dallas and I walked out of the restaurant his arm around me which I presumed was a message to Asher. We exited the restaurant as a group and walked to Owen's car.

"I gotta get back to work." Drew said kissing Bianca and waving to the rest of us.

"Bye Drew thanks for coming on your lunch break for this." I said.

He gave me one of his big grins and then turned around and walked to his car. The rest of us piled into Owen's car, Dallas and I in the back, and we drove back to school. When we entered the school I left them to go to my locker and retrieve my backpack.

"Hey how did lunch go?" Adam asked appearing at his locker.

I looked around the hall to be sure Eli or someone wasn't listening and leaned in a little closer to Adam just to be safe. "Went fine except for when Asher put his hand on my leg, but I stabbed him with my fork."

Adam laughed a little, "Good, Owen and Dallas will drop us off and pick us up again."

"Don't they have hockey practice?" I asked.

Adam just shrugged, "He told me this morning they were."

Adam closed his locker and we walked to class to find Eli waiting for us. When school let out I met Owen, Dallas and Adam on the front steps. Adam reminded me to text them if Asher did anything and I said I would.

"Wait for us on the front steps if we're not here when your shift is over." Dallas instructed when they dropped me off.

I nodded and he kissed my cheek, I bit my lower lip and walked into the building. As soon as I was visible from his office Asher waved me over, I sighed and I rolled my eyes.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked through gritted teeth entering his office.

"That was not nice jabbing your fork into my hand at lunch." He stated giving me a partly lustful partly angry look.

"You shouldn't have put your hand on my leg." I smirked confidently.

"You shouldn't fight me Clare it'll be so much easier if you don't fight." He said in a disgustingly sleazy tone and I shuddered.

He got up from his desk and started coming toward me. "Careful Asher your boss is watching." I warned.

He didn't even look behind him. "Yes well I told her I jumped at lunch because your hand touched my leg. Don't worry I told her it was an accident but cross me again like that and I'll be forced to confess to her how it wasn't and how you've been coming onto me." He threatened opening his office door, "Now get to work Newsie."

I was incensed and clenched my fists, sitting down at my desk with a huff. I contemplated texting Dallas and Adam but it was only a threat and technically it was the same threat he'd made before and therefore information they already had. I turned on my laptop and began working as I reminded myself, "_Tomorrow is my last day, after tomorrow I never have to see Asher Shostack again."_

The very second my shift was over I shut down my laptop, grabbed my purse and left the building. It only took a few minutes befor Owen's suburban pulled up to the front steps and I ran to it, getting in the back with Dallas.

"So he didn't try anything?"Adam asked as soon as Owen started driving.

"The only thing he did was scold me for stabbing him with my fork and give me the same threat as before." I said.

Whether because he sensed that I was a little upset or because he just wanted to, Dallas reached over and grabbed my hand interlacing our fingers. Since we had finished our project there was no reason for me to go to Adam's house so Owen drove straight to mine. I got out of the car and waved as they drove off and I went inside.

For some reason when I went to bed that night I couldn't get Asher's threat out of my mind. It was the same threat he'd given me the night he attacked me in his car but for some reason this time it seemed more ominous or more austere. As hard as I tried to shoo it from my thoughts it would not go and so much to my chagrin I fell asleep thinking about it and had a terrible nightmare. I woke up shaking, panting and in a cold sweat. I got up from bed, I was wide awake and wasn't sure that I could sleep again that night. I grabbed my phone and went downstairs and sat on the couch. I knew it was late, I knew he would be sleeping, I knew I shouldn't be calling him but at that minute I felt like the only thing that would make me feel better was his voice. I found his name and clicked call, he answered after three rings.

"Clare? It's the middle of the night are you okay?" He asked his voice was cracked with sleep but also full of concern.

"I'm sorry I woke you up but I had a nightmare and can't get back to sleep." I said apologetically, keeping my voice low.

"It's okay you can call me any time. You want to talk about your nightmare?" His voice sounded more awake and brighter and it made me smile.

"Well in the dream Asher went through with his threat and told everyone I sexually harassed him and there was a trial and everyone believed him. No one listened when I told them he had harassed me, I felt invisible. I was put on trial and he was treated like a hero and…" I couldn't finish, I felt tears starting to trickle down my cheeks.

"I won't let that happen Princess, and neither will Adam, Drew, Owen or Bianca." He assured me and his husky voice was incredibly soothing.

"I know." I breathed.

"Feel better Princess?"

"Much but I'm still not tired would you mind staying up a bit longer to talk to me?" I requested.

"What should I talk about?"

"How'd you get into hockey?"

For an hour he talked to me about playing hockey when he was little and why he got into it and finally I started to feel tired. We said goodnight and I went back up to bed crawling under the covers ready to sleep again, all thoughts of Asher gone from my mind and happily replaced with Dallas.

**(ADAM)**

Eli, Clare and I were at our lockers sorting our books for morning classes when Dallas walked up next to Clare, obviously to talk to her but we all turned to him.

"Hey I know we haven't even had our first date yet but seeing as we're already going backwards a little bit I already have plans for our second date." He told her.

She giggled a little, "And what's that?"

"The costume ball next week." He said producing the tickets.

She bit her lower lip and smiled, "I'll have to start looking for a costume, I'm sure Alli and Jenna will help."

"Can't wait to see it." He replied flirtatiously kissing her cheek then he turned and waked down the hall.

"See you guys later I need to go find Alli and Jenna." Clare smiled walking away herself.

"Hey speaking of the costume ball you wanna go stag with me?" I asked Eli. "It could be fun and I bet there will be a lot of girls going by themselves."

"Sure why not." Eli shrugged closing his locker, then he turned to me. "Ummm what did he mean when he said they were going backwards a little?"

I couldn't explain to Eli about Clare being in Dallas' bed without telling him about Asher and she'd sworn me to secrecy, so I chickened out and made an excuse to leave. "No idea I have to go talk with Connor, later." I walked away quickly but decided I was going to confront Clare about telling Eli.

**(CLARE)**

I quickly found Alli and Jenna and walked over to them. "Hey can you guys get together on Sunday to help me plan a costume for the costume ball? I have date."

"Eeeeeee!" Squealed Alli, "With who?"

"Mike." I said and when they looked confused and seemed to be mentally searching through the student body I corrected myself. "Dallas I mean. Mike Dallas."

"Oh you have a date with Dallas! I knew I'd seen you guys around each other a lot lately." Alli shrieked.

"And you call him by his first name? I thought he hated that." Jenna gushed.

"He doesn't seem to mind when I do it." I replied and they both squealed again. "So can you guys meet me on Sunday?"

"Yes! Meet us at the dot as soon as you're done with church. We have to plan our costumes too. Me, Jenna, Connor and Dave are going as a group." Said Alli.

"What she means is her and Dave are going on a date and they're dragging Connor and me with them so we don't look like we came alone." Jenna said sarcastically.

"So when did you and Dallas start dating?" Alli asked ignoring Jenna's mock complaint.

"Well technically we're not yet, our first date is Saturday." I admitted just as the bell rang.

"Well then you have tell us all about it when we meet you at the Dot on Sunday." Jenna implored.

"I will." I giggled before we separated and ran to our classes.

At morning break I was at the bus stop waiting for the bus to take to my second to last shift at co-op, when Adam came up to me.

"Hey Clare."

"Hey Adam what's up?" I inquired.

"Why won't you tell Eli?" He asked bluntly.

I grimaced at him. "Because Adam you know how Eli is if he finds out he'll flip!"

"But he knows something's going on with you, he's worried and he's your best friend too." Adam appealed.

"Adam, he's been doing so much better and I don't want to be the thing that sets him off." I explained with a heavy sigh.

"Clare I'm getting tired of lying to him, knowing that you're going through this and he cares about you and we're keeping it from him." Adam protested.

"We're not lying to him." I argued.

"He knows something's going on, he's figured out it has to do with your internship so yeah we're lying to him." He countered with a stern tone.

My bus pulled up and I sighed as I stood, "Today's my last day Adam, after today I won't have to see Asher again so there won't be anything for Eli to be suspicious about."

I got on the bus and sat down and could see Adam scowling at me through the window. Thankfully Asher was gone for my whole morning shift that is until I called the elevator to go to the lobby, when the doors opened he was there. He didn't step out as he should have, just gave me a lecherous smile and waited for me to step in. I clenched my fists and got on the elevator and he pressed the button for the lobby. I stayed close to the doors ready to run out as soon as they opened but had my back to him and instantly regretted it when his arms came around me and he kissed my neck.

"Let go of me!" I demanded elbowing him as hard as I could manage in his hold. It was enough for him to release me; I grabbed my keychain and readied the mace in case he tried to come at me again. "I suggest you ride the elevator back up and not follow me out when the doors open. My boyfriend and friend are picking me up and they already want to kill you."

Actually I had no idea if Dallas and Owen were picking me up, Dallas hadn't said anything about it at school this morning, he'd just told me we were going to the costume ball. I hoped the threat would be enough to keep Asher from trying anything else. The elevator doors opened and I ran out of the building to the front steps and breathed a relieved sigh when I saw Dallas and Owen in his SUV. I ran straight for them, Dallas got out of the front seat and I ran straight into his arms, he embraced me tightly.

"What did the fucker do this time?" Owen asked angrily from the driver's seat.

I broke from Dallas' embrace and pulled him into the backseat, I still had one more shift and I wasn't about to chance them marching up to Asher's office and killing him. We sat down and Dallas put his arm around me.

"Start driving to school Owen." I commanded buckling my seatbelt.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I have one more shift and I don't want the two of you to do anything rash." I explained.

Dallas and Owen exchanged a look but Dallas buckled his seat belt, put his arm around me again and Owen started driving.

"Okay what did he do?" Dallas asked.

"He wasn't even there until I got into the elevator to leave, he rode down with me and put his arms around me and kissed my neck. I elbowed him as hard as I could and he backed off." I confessed.

Dallas' other arm came around me and I leaned into him, his body was tense and I knew he was angry. I could see that Owen had tensed up too and the rest of the ride to school was silent.

"I'm gonna go find Bianca and tell her, she'll tell Drew but we're picking you up from your last shift this evening." Owen informed me.

"But you guys have to get ready for your game tonight."

"We're picking you up!" They said together so loudly that several students turned to look at us.

"Okay okay. Mike why don't you go with Owen to tell Bianca and Drew, I'm gonna get my lunch and go eat with Adam and Eli. I'll tell Adam." I said.

Dallas kissed my cheek and he and Owen walked away down the hall. I grabbed my lunch from my locker and went to the outside picnic tables, I spotted Adam and Eli at our usual table but Fiona and Imogen were sitting there too. Not that I had anything against the girls, I quite like them infact, but it would be harder to get Adam alone to tell to him .

"Hey guys." I said sitting down.

"Hey Clare we were just discussing our costumes for the ball." Fiona said.

I smiled taking a bite of my sandwich.

"How was co-op?" Adam asked with slightly too much hard edge to his voice because the others gave him a curious look.

"It was fine but there's something Dallas wanted me to tell you privately." I said hoping he would get the hint and would find a minute for us to talk. He got the message alright, his face twisted, he stood up grabbed my hand and pulled me away behind the trees. We were out of earshot of the others but still, "ADAM! What are you doing they're going to know something's up!"

"Eli already does and I don't care now what did Asher do?" He asked in a demanding tone.

"It wasn't even that bad Adam; he held me and kissed my neck in the elevator as I was leaving." I sighed.

Adam turned red with fury and I swear I saw the steam coming out of his ears. "I call attacking you in the elevator bad!"

"Okay it was bad; Dallas and Owen are telling Bianca and Drew so you all know now. I have one more shift then it's all over and they're picking me up again just in case. Please calm down Adam so we can go eat our lunch."

Adam took a deep breath and closed his eyes and I watched his cheeks slowly turn from red to pink again. Then he led me back to the table releasing my hand and we sat down once more as though nothing had happened but the others were looking at us.

"Everything okay?" Imogen queried after we'd resumed eating.

"Yep fine just something private I had to discuss with Adam." I said which wasn't a total lie.

Fiona and Imogen shrugged and continued eating their lunches. Eli was looking at us intently, his eyes were suspicious he definitely knew something was up and I couldn't look at him for the rest of lunch.

**Update soon**

**So I have everyone else's costumes for the costume ball except for Tristan, ideas?**


	11. Haven't I Seen This Movie

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch.11 Haven't I Seen This Movie**

**(CLARE)**

I was in science class with Adam we were at a table with Wesley and a couple of other kids, we were supposed to be working with the group but Adam had moved he and I to one corner while the others were working.

"It's your last shift Clare can't you just skip it?" He whispered but I could still hear the pleading tone in his voice.

I looked up at the others but they weren't paying any attention, "No Adam I need to get my paper signed. It's my last shift I dout Asher will try anything and if he does Mike and Owen are picking me up and taking me straight to the game."

"I know but…" He started but his voice had risen enough to draw some attention and I cut him off.

"I'll text you if anything happens and as soon as I'm safely in Owen's car okay?"

He heaved a sigh, "Yeah okay, I'll be at Eli's but if that ass tries anything we're going down there."

"You're impossible, can we concentrate on the assignment now?"

He scrunched his face up at me but turned his attention to the assignment. After school Adam and Eli waited with me for my bus, I got on and waved to them from teh window and Adam still looked worried. When the bus finally pulled to my stop twenty minutes later I considered not going in, not giving Asher a chance to do anything else, but of course I got off the bus and went in. I breathed out an incredible sigh of relief seeing that he was not in his office. He came in about half way through my shift and gave me a lecherous smile, his eyes roving over me and walked into his office without a word. I swear Adam's paranoia got to me because I kept nervously glancing over my shoulder but he stayed in his office the whole time, although I could feel his eyes on me. When I finished my shift I grabbed my stuff and went into his office.

"I'm done, I need my paper signed." I said shoving it at him.

He took it, looking me over and smiling vilely at me. "Of course Newsie it was a pleasure working with you." He handed me back the paper and reached into a drawer, producing an envelope. "Here you are as promised."

I took the envelope and looked in it, "This is only one letter of recommendation I was promised two."

"And as soon as I'm sure that neither you nor any of your friends is going to talk, bring up false accusations against me, I'll deliver the other one to you." His voice was oozing so much with depravity it made me feel dirty, his eyes filled with such carnality it made me shudder.

"_Did he just say false accusations!" _I screamed internally and had to take a deep breath. "Whatever I'm going downstairs to meet my boyfriend and go to his hockey game and I hope I never see you again!" I seethed through clenched teeth.

"Now that hurts Clare we had such fun together, you were such a…" he paused pulling in a breath through his teeth, "pleasure to work with."

If I had dared to open my mouth I was sure nothing but a string of insults and profanity would have come out so I turned and walked out of the office and then screamed when I got in the elevator. I left the building to see Owen's SUV which had become by this point my secret sanctuary; it was where I first had the pleasure to sit on Dallas' lap. Not to mention Owen had been picking me up and dropping me off a lot lately especially to and from co-op. I walked quickly to it and hopped in and Owen took off driving fairly fast, they had a game to get to after all.

"How was your last shift?" Dallas asked.

"Fine." I huffed and he turned around in the front seat to look at me and I could see Owen looking at me in the rearview mirror. "He didn't touch me or anything but he said a few things that made me shudder and he only gave me one letter of recommendation he said I'd get the other when he was certain that I and none of you were going to talk. Forget about it guys you need to concentrate on the game."

The rest of the ride was silent aside from me texting Adam that I was in the car and him texting me back. When we arrived at the arena Owen parked the car and we all got out. "You'll have to enter through the front, find Tris and Maya." Dallas instructed before kissing my cheek and turning to walk in through the players entrance with Owen.

I walked through the front entrance and found the right section but there was a crowd of people and I was having a terrible time pushing my way through. Suddenly Maya's blonde hair popped up over the crowd, she was either standing on her seat or was on Tristan's shoulders. She waved and then looked down at Tristan and said something to him and her head dissapeared again, a few seconds later Tristan's distinctive voice bellowed over the crowd.

"EVERYONE STOP AND SHUT UP!" And suddenly the entire crowd in our section froze, no one talked, no one moved. Considering Tristan was the equivalent of a friendly huggable teddy bear I was quite impressed he was able to command a whole crowd of people. "Okay now everyone move to the side!" And again the crowd parted and I suddenly had a clear path, Tristan waved me forward.

I walked to my seat and sat down; we were in the front again of course. "Thanks Tris that was impressive, a skill you picked up from your brother I assume?"

"Yeah he always taught me how to assert myself." Tristan said.

I smiled happy that Owen was a good big brother, that he'd changed since last year and that he was now my friend but I didn't have time to express this to them as the music started and the team came out. Now that I knew more about hockey, considered Campbell to be a friend and had a developing relationship with Dallas I was far more excited this time. By the end of the first period Dallas and Campbell had each scored one goal and they were tied with the opposing team. We got up to stand in line at the concession stand to get hot dogs and soda's for dinner.

"I wish the coach would let Owen play more," I commented as we walked back to our seats, "I feel so bad for him sitting on the bench so much, he really is a good player."

"Yeah but he was the only kid from DeGrassi to actually make the team, he beat out hundreds of others." Tristan said as we sat down again. "He was super excited just make the team, but your right the coach doesn't put him in enough."

In the second period neither team scored any goals but Luke was put in the penalty box for tripping another player which meant Owen got to play. In the third period Campbell scored the winning goal at the very last minute winning the game for the Ice Hounds in a very thrilling victory. It was amazing how I could expend so much energy cheering and jumping up and still be so pumped by the end of the game.

"Come on let's get to Little Miss Steaks." Tristan said grabbing my hand, I grabbed Maya's and Tristan pushed us through the crowd.

Marisol greeted us when we got there and told us to sit at our usual table. We sat down and ordered drinks, we all got chocolate milkshakes and we got a brownie sundae to share. Just as our food was brought to our table in came the Ice Hounds, we could hear them long before we could see them. They came around the corner and Luke and some the others started putting tables together in the corner for them to sit but Dallas, Owen and Campbell came over to us.

"You sit with us from now on." Dallas said taking my hand and helping me up from the seat and I grabbed my milk shake.

"After last time we aren't taking any chances." Owen explained ushering his brother to get up and grabbing our brownie sundae for us.

We sat down with the hockey players; I was between Dallas and Tristan, Maya on his other side. The team started talking about the game and plays and some other testosterone driven topics and I was starting to feel out of place again so I concentrated on eating the brownie. Either Tristan and Maya were feeling out of place too or were just very hungry because we all devoured the brownie and finished just as the pizza came for the team.

"I'm going to the washroom." I said standing up.

"I'll go with you," Maya said standing up as well.

We started walking back to washroom just as I heard one of the other hockey players mumble something about girls always going in packs.

"Sitting with the team is nice but…" Maya said to my reflection as we washed our hands.

"Too much male energy." I finished for her.

She nodded as we dried our hands and then we left the washroom walking past the bar and suddenly I froze. Sitting at one of the bar stools was Asher! His back was to me, and I should have run back to the table but for some reason my feet wouldn't move.

"Clare you okay?" Maya's soft voice broke through my fear and I looked at her. She looked past me, "Who's he?"

"No one." I insisted grabbing her arm and walking very fast back to the safety of the Ice hounds table.

Maya sat down between Tristan and Campbell again. I wanted sit in Dallas' lap and wrap his arms around me like a warm, muscular security blanket. I didn't though; I held my composure and sat down in my seat between him and Tristan. I did however pull my seat just a little closer to Dallas. I picked up my milkshake and held the straw in my mouth but I wasn't really drinking, my mind was too filled with fearful thoughts. Dallas was busy arguing with Luke and the twins whose names escaped me at the moment and didn't notice that I was nervous or that Maya and then Tristan kept glancing at me; that is until his arm went onto the back of my chair brushing my shoulder blades and I jumped, instantly his eyes were on me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his arm coming around my shoulders. As soon as he said it Owen looked over at me too.

"Nothing." I lied setting my milkshake back on the table.

They didn't buy it both were eyeing me closely as were, Tristan, Maya and Campbell. "You seem nervous or…wait did he call you or something?"

I shook my head and bit my lip.

"Then why are you jumpy? Something happen when you came out of the washroom?" Dallas asked but he was looking at Maya and not at me.

"No but she did see some man at the bar and seemed…scared." Maya told them.

I closed my eyes and gulped, I felt Dallas stiffen and his fist clench next to my shoulder.

"He's here! He followed you!" Dallas exclaimed angrily shooting up from his seat.

I jumped up too, but so did Owen, I grabbed Dallas' hand and Owen's jacket sleeve. "Mike, guys stop! He hasn't said or done anything maybe he just came to eat."

They both gave me the same look, it said they didn't care why he was here he wasn't staying.

"Tris keep her here we'll be back in a minute." Owen commanded as he and Dallas disappeared around the corner.

I took a couple steps forward to follow them and stop them but felt a pair of hands gently but firmly grab my arms and pull me back a couple of steps. I stood there, Tristan's hands on my arms, Maya and Campbell standing beside me, waiting for Dallas and Owen to appear again.

"What's going on?" Luke asked from his seat.

"I'm not sure but I think Dallas and Owen went to kill a guy." Campbell said.

Either the rest of the team didn't care or figured it wasn't their business because they went back to talking but Luke came to stand with us. Finally Dallas and Owen came around the corner again; they both looked unharmed and I breathed a sigh of relief. Tristan let me go and I went to them.

"What did you do?" I asked apprehensively.

"We told him to leave and he wouldn't so we tossed him out. I told him to stay away from you and punctuated it with my fist on his jaw." Dallas smiled.

"MIKE! What if he does something? What if he goes through with his threat to bring charges against me?" I argued quietly as I could feel the others eyes on us.

"And admit that he came to a restaurant near our school, where kids hang out! He wouldn't dare." Owen said.

I wasn't so sure but Dallas put his arm around me and brought us back to the table, everyone sat down again. No one asked any more questions about the incident and we didn't say anything. I tried to relax again but I was so worried about what Asher might do that I couldn't. Dallas either saw or sensed this because he took my hand and Owen seemed to notice too because he switched seats with Tristan. We left at closing time again and again Owen offered Dallas and me a ride home. Once again Tristan got in the front seat, Campbell, Maya, Dallas and I got in the back and just like last time I sat on Dallas' lap. His arms came around me and finally I felt safe and secure again, and exhausted. Being anxious and afraid most of the time expends a lot of energy or maybe it was just all the energy I had exhausted at the game. Either way Dallas felt safe and warm and I lay my head on his shoulder, closed my eyes and soon was asleep.

"Wake up Princess we're at your house." Dallas' soft deep voice pulled me from sleep.

I blinked my eyes open and he kissed my cheek. "Sorry guess I was tired." I sat up and looked around, I was still in his lap but the car was empty aside from us and Owen. "Where's Tristan?"

"I dropped him off first so you could sleep." Owen explained.

"Thanks that was sweet."

"No problem. Ummm Clare why won't you say anything about Asher to Miss Oh or Simpson? Or at least let us and the Torres brothers beat the crap out of him." Owen stated.

Dallas was looking at me too, waiting for an answer and I sighed, curling into Dallas again just a little. "Because it would be my word against his. I did some research on workplace assault cases and they usually boil down to a he said, she said case and they don't always believe the girl."

"But we know." Dallas argued.

"Because I told you, none of you saw anything other than him looking at me, its hearsay. Asher has had lots of interns and none of them have ever brought up charges. He's a well-known and respected journalist with lots of connections and powerful friends and I'm a nobody high school student. If he brings charges against me I'll be humiliated, I just want to forget." I vented and then put my head back on Dallas' shoulder.

Neither of them said anything, there really wasn't anything they could say.

"Come on I'll walk you to the door." Dallas said after a minute.

I got off his lap and opened the door, stepping out and turning to Owen, "Thanks for the ride Owen see you at school."

"No problem Clare, see you Monday." He replied with a wave.

Dallas got out took my hand and we walked the few feet to my doorstep. "So you ready for our date tomorrow night?" He asked and I was glad for the change in subject.

"Are you ready to be interrogated by my Mom and possibly Jake?"

"What about your stepdad?"

"We're still in the I want to be your friend and not over step my bounds stage, just like Jake is with my Mom." I explained.

He smiled, "Well I'm great with Moms and I can handle your stepbrother so don't fret Princess." He bent down and kissed my cheek.

I smiled and waved to him and Owen one more time before going into the house.

"How was the game honey?" My Mom asked from the couch.

"It was great we won again. I'm gonna go call Alli." I said starting up the stairs.

**(ADAM)**

I waved to Eli and Cece as they drove away and walked into my house, my parents were gone but Dallas was eating at the table when I came in. I dropped my bag in the entry and went to sit down with him.

"Hey heard you won your game."

He nodded, "Yep it was close though and guess who came to Little Miss Steaks after the game?"

"Who?"

"Asher he must have followed her there, how else would he have known?" Dallas informed me.

"That ass! Wait does that mean he was at the game?!" I exclaimed.

Dallas stopped eating and looked at me apparently this thought hadn't occurred to him. "I don't know."

"Well what did you do?"

"Owen and I threw him out and I told him to stay the fuck away from Clare and then punched him in the face."

"Good!" I said smiling.

"She just wants to forget, she's afraid to fight him." Dallas told me.

He looked sad or worried; I decided we needed a change of subject. "Dad's letting you borrow the car tonight right? Where are going on your date? And don't say to make out at the arena like you do with the puck bunnies."

He scowled at me. "Dude give me some credit, I know Clare is a classy girl and not some skanky puck bunny. I thought I'd take her miniature golfing, simple and fun and guaranteed to get her mind off of Asher."

I smiled, Dallas really cared about Clare which made me happy. "Perfect, Clare will love it."

**(CLARE)**

I stood in front of the mirror checking over my outfit; Dallas hadn't said where we were going only that he'd pick me up at six so I opted for semi casual. I had on red flats and a denim knee length skirt, a red short sleeve top with a sweetheart neckline that hugged my curves and accentuated my bust just enough, my gold cross of course and a black and red flower clip to pull a few curls away from my face. Just as I finished applying my lip gloss there was a knock at my bedroom door, I grabbed my purse and opened it.

"Your dreamy hockey player just pulled up." Jake said.

I rolled my eyes and pushed past him, "Be nice Jake." I went down stairs and opened the door just as he was about to knock. "Hi come on in."

"Hi you look beautiful." He kissed my cheek and I took his hand and led him to the living room where my family was waiting to interrogate him.

"This is Mike Dallas, you know Jake and this is my step father Glen and my Mom Helen." I introduced everyone.

He shook hands with my parents and my family sat down again, Dallas sat in the chair so I sat on the arm next to him.

"It's nice to meet you Mike." My Mom said.

"Actually I prefer Dallas."

"My sister calls you Mike." Jake pointed out and I glared at him.

"Clare is special I like it when she calls me Mike," He said taking my hand and interlacing our fingers, I smiled and my heart fluttered, "but I prefer everyone else call me Dallas."

"Alright then Dallas how old are you?" My Mom asked.

"I just turned eighteen last month."

"You are aware that Clare is still sixteen?"

"Mom! Ignore her I'll be seventeen in a couple of weeks." I said and Mike squeezed my hand just a bit.

"Yes Ma'am I'm living with the Torres family and Adam is one of Clare's best friends."

"So Clare tells us you're on the hockey team Dallas." Glen said.

"Yes sir I'm captain."

"Impressive you must be…" Glen started but Jake interrupted him.

"Are you a virgin?!"

"JAKE!" I shrieked at him.

"No it's okay Clare he's just looking out for you. No I'm not but I'm not going to sleep with your sister on our first date," I had to bite my lip and turn my head to keep from laughing, Dallas continued, "I don't sleep around and I believe you should wait till you're in a committed relationship before you take that step."

"You wouldn't know that the way some of the puck bunnies throw themselves at you." Jake said and I glared at him again.

"What's a puck bunny?" Asked my Mom.

"Puck bunnies are the hockey groupies that follow around and throw themselves at the whole team. Some of the team enjoy them I don't pay any attention to them, I prefer a girl with self-respect and class which is why I fell for Clare." Dallas said smoothly.

I stood up pulling Dallas with me as our hands were still interlaced. "Well if the Spanish inquisition is satisfied we'll be going now."

"Have fun dear midnight curfew." My Mom said and she was smiling so I knew she was pleased with Dallas.

"Don't worry Mrs. Martin I'll get her home on time." He assured her.

We left the house, he opened my car door for me and I got in. "You certainly impressed my parents, I'm sorry about Jake though." I said as he started driving.

"Don't worry about it he's just being a protective older brother."

"Yeah well before he was my step brother he was my boyfriend and sometimes I'm not sure which side is coming through, the ex or the brother." I sighed.

He turned to look at me his eyebrows raised. "You dated your step brother!"

"It's a long story all I know is my sister never would have attacked you like that."

"You have a sister?" He inquired.

"Yeah Darcy she's three and a half years older, she's in Africa it's another long story." I said as we pulled into the parking lot of the miniature golf park. "I haven't been here since I was little. Dad used to bring me and Darcy all the time."

Dallas smiled got out of the car and came around opening my door for me. "Tonight is all about having fun, no thinking or talking about Asher."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Thanks Mike this is perfect."

He put his arm around me and we walked in we opted to eat first, so I grabbed us a table and he ordered cheese burgers and soda.

"So how about that long story of you and Jake?" He asked as we began eating.

I told him all about Jake being there after Eli and I broke up, and thinking I was in love with him and finding out our parents were getting married and how now we were step siblings.

"Well given that you almost slept with him his virgin question makes more sense now." Commented Dallas as he finished his burger.

"Yeah speaking of which your choice of words in your answer was interesting considering technically we already slept together. I had to keep myself from laughing." I said finishing my own dinner.

He took our trash and tossed it, then took my hand helping me up from the table. "Emphasis on slept but I also figured you didn't want them to know that we'd shared a bed."

He paid for a round of mini golf and we took our clubs and balls and went to the first hole. "I didn't but it was still funny." I said hitting my ball it bounced off the barrier and came back to me, I scrunched up my face.

Dallas chuckled, "I thought you said your Dad brought you here all the time?"

"He did but I haven't been here since I was ten."

"Here," he went and picked up the ball and placed it in front of me again, "try it this way." He said coming behind me and putting his arms around me and over mine to show me how to hit.

"Oh I see this whole thing was a clever ploy to get me in your arms," I teased.

"Well maybe a little."

"I don't mind," I said nuzzling into him a little more, "I like being in your arms."

He smiled and we hit my ball, I got a hole in one and I squealed a little and kissed his cheek. The rest of the game went pretty much the same way, we didn't talk much but there was a lot of giggling on my part, a lot of hand holding and a lot of him with his arms around me. In the end I was sure he had won but he hadn't kept score. We still had three hours before I had to be home so we went for ice cream.

"So why's your sister is Africa?" He asked after we'd been eating in silence for a few minutes.

"That's a long story for another time." I insisted. "What about you? You must miss your family."

"Yeah sometimes but I don't have any sibling and my parents both work a lot so I always thought of my team as a family. I keep in touch with my parents but it's easier for me than some of the guys. The Torres' have been great and the rest of the guys on the team are like brothers."

After ice cream we went walking through the park holding hands, we didn't talk much but we didn't need to. We sat on a bench, he put his arm around me and I cuddled into him and I could have happily stayed that way for hours but eventually he said he should get me home. I sighed and stood up and we walked hand in hand back to the car. He opened the door for me when we reached my house and walked me to my door.

"I had a great time tonight thank you Mike."

He bent down a little placing his arms under my butt suddenly lifting me up. I squealed just a little from surprise and put my hands on his shoulders and for once I was looking down at him.

"I can kiss you better this way." He explained.

I smiled coquettishly and bent my head down crushing our lips together. It wasn't technically our first kiss but it gave me butterflies in my stomach and my heart skipped a beat as the outside world melted away and for just a minute there was nothing but me in his arms. I parted my lips and our tongues played and I could feel my cheeks flush. When Jake pulled into the driveway coming home from his own date we broke apart and Dallas set me down again.

"Goodnight Mike thanks again for tonight."

"Goodnight, sleep well Princess." He kissed my cheek, smiled at Jake as he walked up and got back in the car.

I bit my lip and waved to him. "How was your date with Katie?" I asked Jake as we both went back in the house.

"Great and how was yours?" He asked and for once his voice didn't sound bitter when he talked about Dallas.

"Better than great." I sighed contentedly, "I'm gonna go call Alli."

**Update soon**


	12. Double Meaning

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Thanks for all the reviews :-)**

**It's long so settle in**

**Ch.12 Double Meaning**

**(CLARE)**

I walked into the Dot, still wearing my church clothes and Alli and Jenna waved me over to their table excitedly. I went up to the counter and ordered a coffee and then sat down at the table.

"So how was your date?" Alli asked in such a high pitched squeal it was almost beyond the realm of human hearing.

"It was great! He completely impressed my Mom, and took me miniature golfing, well we ate first and talked and then we played. He put his arms around me to show me how to hit the ball right. Then we went for ice cream and a walk in the park and when he kissed me goodnight at my door he lifted me up so I was above him, it was so sweet." I gushed.

"Awwww so romantic." Jenna squealed as the waiter brought my coffee.

"So are you guys official yet?" Alli asked.

I giggled, "Actually we never talked about it, we were supposed to."

Alli shook her head but didn't press, "Now onto the business at hand, we all know what costumes we want; I say we start at the mall." She suggested.

"Sounds good, let's get our drinks to go and start walking." Jenna said.

Three hours and a dozen mall shops later we had everything we needed for our costumes.

"I'm hungry, let's eat before we call my Mom to come get us." Alli said.

"Sounds good, I'm hungry too." I said feeling my stomach rumble.

"I'm starved; shopping really takes it out of you." Jenna agreed.

We began walking to the food court and I saw Drew at his work, he waved me over. "Hey you two go grab a table and I'll meet you in a minute."

They nodded and walked off to the food court and I went over to Drew's kiosk.

"Hey I heard your date went well." He commented.

I smiled, "Yeah really well."

"And I heard Asher was at Little Miss Steaks after the game." He told me his face turning hard.

I bit my lip and looked down, "Yeah but Mike and Owen threw him out and Mike punched him."

"You don't seem happy about it." Drew stated.

"He deserved the punch but I worry that he'll carry through with his threat or something. Owen said he wouldn't because he'd have to admit to going to a restaurant near my school where kids hang out."

"Owen's right no way he'd admit to that." Drew assured me. "Plus in order for him to have known you were going there he had to have followed you from the game."

"He followed me?" It was really only half a question but I hadn't considered that fact. I looked down and began chewing on my lip nervously.

Drew reached over and touched my arm and I looked up at him again. "If he does anything you know to tell us, all of us right away right?"

"I guess but I only have Mike and Adam's numbers." I told him.

He gave me one of his big, almost goofy grins and I smiled in spite of myself. "Give me your phone." He commanded. I had to move around some bags to get a free hand to reach into my purse but I found my phone and handed it to Drew. For a couple of minutes he punched a whole bunch of keys and then reached into his own pocket and pulled out his phone, looking through it for second and then punching some more keys before handing it back to me. "There I put in my number and Bianca and Owen's so now you have all our numbers."

"Thanks Drew."

"Clare you're taking too long, we're starving! Since when do you and my ex have so darn much to talk about anyway?" Alli whined as she and Jenna came up to Drew's kiosk.

"Oh sorry, you guys could have ordered food without me." I apologized.

"What are you girls shopping for anyway?" Drew asked seeming to suddenly notice the fact that we were each carrying three or more bags.

"Our costumes for the ball at DeGrassi next Saturday." Jenna said.

"Oh yeah I got tickets from Fiona yesterday for me and Bianca." Drew smiled.

"Well we should go eat before Alli kills me, see you later Drew." I smiled.

Drew nodded and waved and we walked to the food court. "I'll sit with all the bags you two go order, get me a burger and a side salad with a lemonade." Jenna requested sitting at a table.

Me and Alli piled all our bags on the table then went to get food for the three of us, rejoining Jenna at the table once we had it all. We sat down and started eating while Alli took over the conversation as usual. All of a sudden Alli stopped talking and before I could ask why I saw Luke sit down next to Jenna and Owen and Dallas sat down on either side of me.

Dallas took me in his arms and kissed me softly, "Hi Princess." He greeted and Alli and Jenna giggled.

"Hi." I smiled at him before shooting a look at my best girlfriends, "Alli, Jenna you know Luke Baker don't you? And of course you know Owen and Mike."

"I prefer everyone call me Dallas, except of course for Clare." He told the other girls and I smiled feeling my cheeks blush and bit my lip.

"So what were you girls shopping for?" Luke asked trying to peek in a bag and Jenna swatted his hand away.

"Our costumes for the ball and you can't see until Saturday." Jenna said firmly and I saw Luke smile.

"Us too, whole teams going as the same thing, team unity and all." Owen informed us.

"Right now we have to get to practice." Dallas sighed.

"See you tomorrow." I smiled and went to kiss him on the cheek but he moved and caught my lips. For a fraction of a second I was surprised but then melted into the kiss, putting a hand at the back of his neck to deepen it when Alli and Jenna began to giggle and squeal we broke apart and he stood up from the table.

"See you at school Clare," Owen said standing up and hugging me with one arm.

"Bye Owen." I smiled to him. "Bye Luke have a good practice guys."

"Thanks see you girls later." Luke said but he was looking at Jenna and she blushed.

We waved to the boys once more and then I went back to eating but could feel the other two looking at me and looked up. "What?"

"I don't remember you being such good friends with Owen." Alli said almost accusingly.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh Alli he's changed since last year, anyway he's on the team with Mike and we've been hanging out. He's really a good guy once you give him a chance." I defended my new friend.

Alli scoffed and went back to eating her sandwich. I sighed, Alli still saw Owen as the guy that tried to buy her on Vegas Night, oh well he was good to me and if she saw that eventually she'd come around. When we finished eating Alli called her Mom and she picked us up and dropped me off at home.

"Thanks for the ride Mrs. Bhandari, see you at school Alli, Jenna." I waved as I hopped out of the car.

Alli and Jenna waved as the car drove away and I went into the house. "Hi Clare, did you find what you needed? Are you hungry?" My Mother asked as soon as I had locked the door behind me.

"Yes I did and no I'm not I ate at the mall with Alli and Jenna." I called.

I started to go upstairs to put away the stuff I bought but Mom called to me again. "Oh Clare you got flowers, their on the table dear."

I dropped the bags on the stairs and went to the table to see a white vase with pink carnations, yellow daisies, and babies breath. I smiled, it was a nice arrangement, the flowers were pretty and smelled nice but there was nothing particularly special about it.

"Your boyfriend must have had a good time last night." Jake chided from the couch.

"We went on one date Jake he's not my boyfriend, yet." Then under my breath added, "I don't think." I saw an envelope in the middle of the arrangement and plucked it out, it was still sealed which meant my family hadn't looked at it. I tore the envelope and took out the card flipping it open and my smile dropped, my breath catching in my throat and even though my back was to them I swallowed hard to keep back the tears so they wouldn't see. "Mike didn't send them." I said quietly.

"Oh then who did dear?" My Mother asked.

"Asher, my boss at my co-op." I said.

I kept my voice even and calm but Jake still got up and took the card from my hand and I forced a smile back on my face.

"You must have impressed them listen to his card: Clare you were a pleasure to work with, mature beyond your years. I hope we can work together again soon. Asher Shostack." Jake read the card to our parents.

"That's fantastic Clare they really liked you." Glen said.

"Wonderful darling, how nice of him to send flowers and a glowing card like that." My Mother said happily.

It was taking all of my will power and inner strength to keep a smile on my face and my voice light and happy, to pretend that the flowers and card from Asher were nothing more than an innocent gift from a grateful boss like my family thought; and had no double meaning and were not a taunt.

"Yes great." I said the smile I was forcing on my face was beginning to hurt. I took the card back from Jake, "I just remembered I need to call Adam, excuse me."

My family was no longer paying attention, our parents absorbed in the news and Jake with his head in the fridge. I walked calmly to the stairs keeping the smile on my face until I was out of sight; grabbing the bags on the stairs and ran to my room; dropping the bags to the floor, shutting the door by leaning against it and sinking to the floor sliding along the door. I brought my knees to my chest, crossing my arms on them and laying my head upon my arms. I was shaking, trembling slightly like the night he had attacked me in his car and he hadn't laid a hand on me. The tears flowed from my eyes as if someone had turned on a faucet, my arms quickly becoming wet in a salty warm shower. After a few minutes they slowed and I got up from the floor grabbing my purse and moving to my bed. Bringing my knees to my chest once more I took my phone from my purse and went through the contacts and clicked on Dallas' name.

It went to voice mail, _"Of course he's still at practice." _Dallas' cheery voice said to leave a message and then came the beep. "Hey it's me, Clare call me back when you're out of practice. I'm fine it's just…call me back." I knew my voice sounded distressed and sad but I didn't have the strength to pretend anymore.

Just to be safe and figuring he should know too I called Owen to leave him a message as well, "Hey it's Clare, Drew gave me your number I hope you don't mind. Anyway if you get this message before Mike checks his messages can you both call me back, from somewhere without others listening."

I hung up and pressed number three on my speed dial to call Adam.

"Hey Clare." Came his cheerful voice and I could hear the sounds of a movie or video game in the background.

"Are you alone?" I asked and suddenly all the background noises stopped, he must have heard the disquiet in my voice.

"Yeah I'm in the basement what's wrong?" He inquired and I could hear the concern in his voice nearly oozing through the phone.

"He sent me flowers…Asher, he sent me flowers Adam." I had to swallow hard and sniffle in my tears that had begun streaming with a fresh ferocity. "His card said that it was a pleasure to work with me, that I'm mature beyond my years and…" I began laughing inexplicably while still sobbing, "and he hopes we can work together again soon."

"That fucking bastard he's taunting you! It was a pleasure working with you…mature…he hopes he can work with you again soon! He means attack you again soon. It isn't enough he was such an ass to you, that he assaulted you more than once now he's taunting you!" Adam seethed through the phone and I could hear him angrily pacing back and forth in his basement.

"The worst part is to everyone else it looks totally innocent. He sent me carnations and daisies it's not like he sent me roses or something. And my family thought it was fantastic that I'd made such a good impression on my boss." I told him half sobbing, half laughing. I still wasn't sure why I was laughing or why I couldn't stop. I felt just a little like I was losing my mind.

"I'm sure that was his intention Clare, he's smart I'll give him that." He told me and I could hear he was talking through clenched teeth.

I felt bad for upsetting Adam so much. "I'm sorry, it's just a bouquet of flowers it shouldn't be bothering me this much, it's not like he delivered them himself or attacked me again." I sobbed into the phone, biting hard on my lip.

"But it is an attack Clare a different kind of attack, he wanted to get in your head." Adam said, his voice calm and kind again and it soothed me a little.

"Yeah well he succeeded, he wins again." I said my voice filled with sorrow and defeat.

"You wanna come over?" He offered.

"My mom would never let me out. I'm okay really; it's just a stupid vase of flowers, I…" My phone beeped alerting me to the fact that I had another call. I pulled the phone away from my ear to see Dallas' name and brought the phone back to my ear. "Mike's on the other line I should tell him."

"Good I'll call Drew and I know Bianca's over there. Call me back if you need to otherwise I'll see you at school tomorrow." He said.

"Thanks Adam bye." I said and hung up with Adam, "Hi Mike." My voice had brightened just a little since talking with Adam.

"It's me and Owen you've got us both Princess, what's wrong?" His husky voice drifting through the phone and wrapping around me almost like a hug and I smiled a little.

"Are you guys alone?" I asked not wanting anyone else to hear this.

"We're in my car." Owen informed me.

"Asher sent me flowers, carnations and daisies not roses or anything but he sent a card with them that said how it was a pleasure working with me, how I'm so mature and he hopes we can work together again soon." I apprised them.

"He's dead I'm going to…" Dallas started.

"You guys can't kill him for sending me flowers Mike. To anyone else it's a perfectly nice gift from a grateful employer. The card was written carefully we know there's a double meaning to everything he's saying but no one else will. My family was very proud that I'd made such a good impression on my boss." I scoffed, saying it with sarcasm but through clenched teeth.

"She's right." Owen agreed but even through the phone I could hear the hard tone in his voice and I just knew his fists were clenched.

"It's just some flowers, he's taunting me and I shouldn't be so bothered by it. I'm okay I just thought you guys should know. I told Adam already and he's telling Drew and Bianca. Drew said to tell you guys right away if Asher did anything else so I am." I said trying to keep my voice steady and trying not to worry or upset them more than they were.

"Drew was right and I'm glad he gave you my number I should have thought of doing that days ago,I got yours from Dallas. But I don't think you're okay, you want us to come over or come get you?" Owen asked.

"No you guys just got out of practice, you need to eat besides my Mom would flip if I had two boys in my house on a Sunday night. I'll be okay, I'll see you guys tomorrow at school." I assured them brightening my voice as much as I could just then.

"Fine but call me if you need to talk or anything okay Princess?" Dallas insisted.

"Okay but really I'll be fine this is nothing, you two get home to eat you must be starving. I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Goodnight Clare." They said in unison.

I hung up and set the phone on the nightstand, biting hard on my lip to keep from crying. I was restless my mind unsettled and the quiet in my room was insanely deafening. I left my room to go downstairs and nearly ran into Mom who was about to knock on my door.

"Oh I was just coming to say goodnight sweetheart." Mom said.

"Goodnight Mom I'm gonna watch TV for a bit." I said forcing a bright smile on my lips.

Mom nodded and walked to her room, I went downstairs where I found Jake on the couch, sitting down next to him without a word, keeping my face as bright as I could. He looked at me a second but didn't say anything and then turned his attention back to the TV. We sat in relative silence watching for about three hours, I was concentrating very hard on the shows so as not to think about Asher, then Jake got up and looked at me.

"Well I'm gonna head to bed. We do have school in the morning." He said with a yawn.

"I'm not tired yet, I'll be up soon." I said forcing a smile on my face.

He disappeared up the stairs and I stretched out on the couch and after many hours of late night TV that's where I fell asleep. I didn't stay asleep long, waking with a start after a disturbing dream. My breathing was erratic and there were tears on my cheeks and in my eyes. Once my eyes adjusted I realized I was still fully dressed and on the couch, the television still on. I sat up and curled into myself the dream fresh on my mind had me fully awake and it wasn't even scary, not in the sense of a nightmare but it was disturbing. I thought about going to my room to retrieve my phone so I could call Mike or even Adam but seeing the glowing clock on the cable box announcing that it was nearly 4am I quickly shook the thought away. No I wouldn't wake anyone at this early hour, especially not for a dream I couldn't even classify as a nightmare. I sat on the couch flipping through the channels until I found something I could watch. When the sun began to come up I went upstairs and showered and dressed for school, then left a note that I'd left early to meet Adam at the Dot, grabbed my backpack and walked to school before my family was even awake. I got to school before any other students walking to the front just as Officer Turner was.

"Morning Officer Turner." I greeted smiling as brightly as I could manage. I'd put on a good layer of foundation to cover the dark circles under my eyes but I had a feeling I still looked tired.

"Hi Clare, you're here very early the school doesn't even open for fifteen minutes yet." He said.

I bit my lip and shifted a little, "Couldn't you let me in? I have to present my report for my co-op today and I have to put on a few finishing touches and make sure it's perfect."

"Well I suppose it would be alright." He said unlocking the door for me.

"Thanks Officer Turner." I smiled as I walked past him into the school, thankful that one of the cops that patrolled our school happened to be the Father of my friend.

I did have to do my report today but I had finished it already and it was as perfect as I cared to make it having lost interest or passion for my co-op after Asher had attacked me in his car. I wandered the school for a bit but suddenly I was feeling tired, the fact that I had only gotten and hour of fitful sleep that had been plagued by a disturbing dream last night catching up with me. Then I remembered that Eli had once said there was a couch in the back of the storage room. I made my way to the storage room, finding the door unlocked I went in; at first all I saw were tables and chairs and then some bookshelves filled with all manner of things. I walked to the back of the room and found an old love seat, it was pretty small but so am I. I laid down using my backpack for a pillow, the emotional stress and physical exhaustion quickly consuming me; I was asleep almost as soon as I closed my eyes.

**(DALLAS)**

Audra dropped Adam I off at school and my first thought was to find Clare, both because I wanted to see her and because I was worried about her after her phone call last night. I was still seething over the fact that asshole had the gall to send her flowers and a card like that.

"I'm gonna go look for Clare." Adam said as we approached the doors.

"I'm coming with you." I said.

Adam nodded, "I saw Jake's truck she's probably at her locker."

Just as we opened the doors Owen came running up to us. "Hey how is she?" He asked.

"We just got here, we haven't seen her yet." I said.

"Just come with us, she's probably at her locker." Adam said his voice and movements determined but he was on edge, worried. The fact that he was so anxious had me anxious after all he knew her better than I did.

We walked to her locker but only found Eli at his locker, no sign of Clare. "Hey Adam." Eli smiled at his friend and then he seemed to take notice of Owen and I and his smile dropped a little, I tried not to take it personal. "Dallas, Owen." He nodded to us.

"Hey Eli, you seen Clare?" Adam asked.

"No but I haven't been here that long. Is everything okay?" Eli queried with a worried look he did care for her a lot I could tell.

"Yeah everything's fine I just need to talk to her." Adam assured him.

Eli nodded and looked at me and Owen. "I need to firm up plans for Saturday night." I said quickly.

Owen kept silent and Eli nodded after a second, "Maybe she's with Alli." He suggested.

"Yeah let's go check with Alli, she's either at her locker or out front." Adam said waving us forward.

We followed Adam since we had no idea where Alli's locker was. We found her at her locker talking with her boyfriend, and Jenna. Bianca waved and joined us just as we approached Alli's group.

"Hi Adam, hi Dallas," Alli smiled at us, "and Bianca and Owen." She said somewhat begrudgingly and I realized there was bad blood between them but I could get the story later.

"Hi Alli have you seen Clare this morning?" I asked.

"No but I saw Jake in the garden." She said.

"I didn't see her but my Dad said he let her in super early this morning that she got here at about the same time he did. He let her in because she said she needed to work on her co-op report." Alli's boyfriend informed us.

"Thanks Dave." Adam said and he started walking down the hall so we all followed him. We walked around a corner and then Adam stopped leaning against the wall and pulling out his phone. "She finished her co-op report last weekend; I'm going to call her." He hit a button and put the phone to his ear and we waited. We could hear it ringing, and ringing and then her voice but Adam hung up. "She didn't answer got her voicemail, where the hell is she?"

Suddenly my phone beeped and everyone looked at me, I pulled it out hoping Clare was texting me but it wasn't her. "It's just Luke." I told the others and they looked disappointed and then I read the text.

**Luke Baker: Your girl is asleep on the sofa in the storage room.**

"He found her; she's asleep in the storage room." I informed them and we began walking in that direction.

"What was Luke doing in the storage room?" Bianca asked.

"Probably went to make out with a puck bunny." Owen told her and I nodded in agreement.

We went into the storage room, Luke had left but we all went to the back and sure enough there she was, curled up, her head resting on her backpack.

"I'll wake sleeping beauty." I said gazing at her angelic sleeping face for a moment before leaning down and softly kissing her silky pink lips.

She stirred and blinked once and her lips began kissing me back, then she pulled away and blinked again before opening her eyes completely. "Ummm hey, guys." She said slowly and a little shyly.

"You had us worried Clare! Why didn't you answer your phone?" Adam demanded.

"Sorry Adam I didn't mean to worry you guys I must have left my phone at home." She said sitting up and fixing her hair, it was cute and I sat down next to her.

"So why'd you get here so early and why'd you fall asleep at school?" Owen questioned.

Adam bent down in front of her looking at her closely, she looked at him a minute and then looked down and began nervously fiddling with her shirt.

"Because she didn't sleep." Adam said for her standing up again.

"Yes I did." She protested looking up at him. "For about an hour anyway and then I woke up after a dream, it wasn't even bad necessarily just…upsetting." She confessed biting her lip.

"Why didn't you call me?" I asked.

"Or me?" Adam demanded.

"Or any of us?" Bianca asked.

She stood up suddenly pulling her backpack with her. "Because I didn't fall asleep until nearly three and I woke up around four and it's not like I had a nightmare, it wasn't worth bothering you guys over at that hour or at all really. I just let Asher get into my head."

She tried to walk out but Owen and Bianca were effectively blocking her path. I caught her arm and turned her to me, "If it was bothering you then it was worth bothering me over and I'm pretty sure the others feel the same way."

"Exactly!" Exclaimed Adam.

"Guys it's really not…" She was interrupted by the bell. "Adam and I have to get to class, our co-op reports are due." She said reaching past me to take Adam's hand.

I cupped her chin in my hand, "Are you okay to make your report Clare, after last night maybe you should skip class today."

She bit her lip again and I saw tears at the corner of her eyes. "No I'll be fine, Adam and Alli both have that class with me I'll just focus on them."

"Clare…"

"Mike I'm fine I have to do this, we have to go now." She insisted trying to pull away from me but I put my other arm behind her back and pulled her closer to me smashing our lips together. She gripped my Ice Hounds sweatshirt with her free hand and kissed me back for a minute before pulling away.

**(CLARE)**

"…and that's what I learned from my time at the Interpreter." I said concluding my report; I had spent the whole time I was orating my report looking at Adam.

"Very good Clare you can sit down again." Miss Oh said.

"Actually I need to use the washroom." I said and saw Adam giving me a worried look. I tried to smile to assure him but he didn't buy it.

"Go ahead Clare, Adam your next." Miss Oh said.

I left my stuff, grabbed a pass and went to washroom; I leaned over the sink and took several deep breaths. Having to talk about Asher as a great mentor had made my stomach turn and brought me near tears again. I had made it through the report but just barely. I splashed some water on my face and took a few more deep breaths and returned to class for the last half of Adams report. When class ended I got up quickly and headed for my locker but Adam quickly came to my side.

"Clare…"

"I'm fine Adam." I interrupted him.

He caught my arm and held me strongly in place keeping me from walking forward. "No your not!"

I bit my lip and looked down, "They were just flowers, a stupid bouquet, something you'd send to your Mom or a get well present. It's not as though he sent me a dozen roses and the card is…"

"Worded carefully to have a double meaning if you know what he's done to you, Clare it's okay to be bothered by it you should be. He meant it to get at you, to get under your skin." Adam insisted.

I looked down biting a little harder on my lip swallowing back my tears before I started crying again. Adam was right but I didn't want to talk about it, or think about it, I wanted it to be over. "I need books from my locker." I said after a minute.

Adam sighed but let go of my arm, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Come on."

We walked to our lockers and Eli was already at his, digging through the mess to find something, but he still managed to see or sense us.

"Hey guys." He greeted.

"Morning Eli." I said doing my best to keep any distress out of my voice, it didn't work.

His head came out of his locker and eyed me closely then his thumb rubbed gently under my eye where I'd applied the makeup to cover up the dark circles. He grimaced at me a little. "You didn't sleep well, what's wrong Clare?"

Sometimes it was scary how well the three of us knew each other. I grabbed his wrist gently and pulled it away from my face, smiling brightly at him. "Just got nervous about doing my report today nothing to worry about Eli."

"We haven't dated for a while Clare but you'll always be one of my best friends. You know you can tell me anything." Eli urged.

I felt Adam elbow me from behind, I ignored him. "I know Eli." I said putting my hand on his shoulder and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek, "but really there's nothing to tell." I walked away quickly turning the corner and I knew I was going to hear it from Adam later for not just telling Eli, but I simply didn't want to bring him into this. Besides there was nothing to tell it had to be done now, Asher got in the last word by sending those flowers and that damned card right?

**Update soon**


	13. God Don't Make Lonely Girls

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch.13 God Don't Make Lonely Girls**

**(CLARE)**

The bell rang and I left drama class heading for the front to get some air. I still felt tired, my dream from last night, Asher's gift and card weighing heavily on my sleep deprived mind, the school was beginning to feel slightly claustrophobic especially with all the students milling around. When I busted through the front doors I was greeted by the sight of Drew leaning against his car, his arms crossed firmly across his chest and he was giving me a stern look.

I sighed and walked over to him, "Not that I'm not happy to see you but I hope you're here for Bianca."

"Yes but she called and told me how they found you this morning, you really should have called one of us when you couldn't sleep. I can't believe that asshole sent you flowers after everything and that card of his…" Drew exclaimed his voice rising a little with each word and I was worried he was going to attract the attention of other students.

"Drew stop please," I cut him off, "Asher's smart he did it to get under my skin and was careful to make sure it seemed completely innocent. There's nothing I can do about it so just let it go. My internship is done; I never have to see him again."

He looked at me a minute and then something caught his eye and he looked over my shoulder, I followed his gaze to see Bianca walking to us.

"Hey Babe." She greeted Drew and kissed him, he put his arms around her and deepened the kiss and seeing as they were beginning to make out I turned to leave but one of them caught the back of my shirt and the waistband of my skirt, holding me firmly. "She left her phone at her house, you mind driving us over so she can get it so we can keep tabs on her?" Bianca asked when she finally tore her lips from Drew's.

I rolled my eyes realizing she must have been holding me.

"No problem, get in the car." Drew commands.

I got in the backseat, they got in the front and as soon as we were all buckled Drew started driving to my house and Bianca got out her phone and called someone.

"Hey she's with me and Drew, we're taking her to get her phone." She says and I figure she was either talking to Dallas or Adam.

We arrive at my house and I get out of the car and run in grabbing my phone from the nightstand and running back down the stairs relocking my door. Drew drove us back to school and I saw Dallas and Owen waiting for us on the steps. We all got out of the car and walked to them.

"Got my phone." I said trying to smile brightly, doing my best to pretend I wasn't tired.

Dallas smiles a little and puts his arm around me. "Good now I can find you if you fall asleep in school again."

I scowled a little and the bell rings. "I gotta get to work." Drew says kissing Bianca softly and giving me a compassionate smile. Owen and Dallas say goodbye and Drew turns to go to his car and the rest of us turn and go in to school.

**(ADAM)**

As soon as the lunch bell rings I run out of class heading to Clare's, I saw her walk out heading for her locker and I run ahead grabbing her arm and pulling her into the now empty chemistry classroom.

"Why are you so against telling Eli?" I ask as soon as the door closes.

"We went over this Adam you know why and it's over now, can we go to lunch?" She argues and I see she's annoyed.

"Clare he knows something's bothering you, he knows you didn't sleep he's worried about you and it's hurting him to think your keeping secrets." I tell her.

She bites her lip and looks down, her eyes are sad and I hope I got through to her. "I don't want to set him off Adam and it's over with now. I don't want to hurt him but telling him might hurt him more. I know Eli and telling him that I was assaulted by my co-op boss…you can't tell me you don't think he won't blow a gasket!"

"Yeah he probably will but I think this is worth blowing a gasket over Clare this is big, and if Eli loses it and takes a step backwards in his treatment over you he's not going to blame you for it. And what if it's not over? What if…"

"Adam please," she interrupts me and I see that she's near tears, "I'm not arguing about this anymore I don't want Eli to know."

She walks out quickly and I follow her, but she walks past the hallway with our lockers and I grab her arm. "Where are you going?"

"I don't feel well Adam I'm going home." She says quietly.

I look her over closely, she's tired and stressed and I can see she's got something on her mind; Asher I'm guessing. "Okay but call me when you get home okay?"

"Adam Asher isn't going to just attack me on the street he's too smart for that." She says but when I give her a pleading sort of look she sighs. "Okay I'll call as soon as I'm home."

I nod and release her arm and she walks away toward the front, I turn and walk back to my locker finding Eli at his. I begin opening my locker and putting some books in when Dallas walks up.

"Hey Dallas." I greet him.

"Hey guys, you still want to come to the game this week?" He asks.

"Yeah I do." I say and I look at Eli.

"Never been to a hockey game it should be interesting." He shrugs but I see a semi impish look in his eyes and guess he has somewhat ulterior motives for coming.

"Cool I'll grab three tickets together, uh you seen Clare?" Dallas asks.

"She said she wasn't feeling well and went home she's going to call me as soon as she gets there." I inform them both.

Dallas nods and walks away; Eli and I grab our lunches and head for our table outside.

"Was she really sick or is something else going on?" Eli asks as we sit down.

"I think she's just tired, not sleeping well last night and all. So you really interested in the hockey game or you going for another reason?" I inquire.

"Okay so maybe my main reason for going is to check out Dallas but I do want to see our school's new hockey team play." Eli says.

"Dallas is a good guy Eli you don't have to worry about him being good to Clare." He kind of scowls at me. "Okay fine see him play and come to Little Miss Steaks after and see how good he is to Clare."

He doesn't reply just digs into his lunch and and changes the subject. Lunch was almost over by the time Clare called to say she made it home. She sounded tired and stressed and I reminded her to call me if she needed to.

**(CLARE)**

It was Thursday morning and I was in the resource center on my laptop working on my Biology paper due the next day. Owen had come in and sat next to me at the table, he pulled out a text book and notebook and seemed to be studying for a test. After Monday the rest of the week had been perfectly normal. Lunches with Eli and Adam, newspaper staff, Dallas and I flirting in the halls between classes; we still hadn't talked about our relationship but I wasn't worried about it, flirting was fun and I didn't want to bring it up. I was looking at a web page when an IM popped up from an account name I had never seen before but the contents of the message made me gasp and I impulsively reached over and grabbed Owen's arm.

"Ow Clare for a tiny girl you sure have a strong grip I think your…" He started.

I pointed the screen and cut him off, "Owen look!" I say in a slightly shaky voice.

He reads the message and I see his face turn stone hard, his eyes narrowed into angry slits.

I let go of his arm but I could feel tears breaking at the corner of my eyes, I swallow hard to keep from crying. The message was short but still managed to be lewd and terrifying.

_**I miss squeezing your big luscious tits; I can't wait to squeeze them again!**_

There was no name in the message and the account name was an illegible string of letters and numbers. I looked at Owen he was very still his whole body had tensed, his eyes full of a raging fire, he looked ready to punch someone, anyone and I saw a few other students looking at him slightly frightened. I put my hand on his clenched fist and gently pushed his face so he'd look me in the eye.

"Owen calm down." I say in a low voice.

"Are you serious Clare?! You see what that pedophile wrote to you?!" He was speaking through clenched teeth, his voice was low but he was livid.

"Your scaring people and we don't know it was him." I pointed out. He looked at me relaxed just slightly and hit print on the IM box. "What are you doing?" I demand as I quickly shut the IM box, log out and shut down the laptop.

He doesn't answer just goes to the printer grabbing the paper and comes back to me stuffing the paper and his stuff back in his backpack. He puts my laptop in my bag, zips it up slings it over his shoulder and takes my hand pulling me out of the room. I hear whispering as we leave and can already hear the rumor mill grinding. He pulls me into the storage room where they found me sleeping the other morning and puts our stuff down near the door.

"What do you mean we don't know it's from that bastard?! Of course it's from him Clare look what he wrote!" He practically yells shaking the printed page.

"Owen I know but the account name on the IM is not his work or personal account, I've never seen it before. He didn't put his name or mine for that matter! For all we know it was mistakenly sent to me." I argue. He gives me a doubting look and I sigh. "Yes it probably is from Asher but we have no proof of that."

"Proof! I'll get fucking proof he's going confess to me because I'm going to go beat the spit out of him until he does!" Owen exclaims angrily and I see a glimmer of his old bully self as he goes out of the room stuffing the paper in his pocket.

I run after him grabbing his hand and pull him back into the room. "You are not going down there to beat him up Owen! If you do anything he'll bring charges against me. If I can prove that he sent this somehow then I'll bring charges against him. But until I have proof that Asher actually sent it you can't say anything Owen to anyone."

"You don't want to tell the others?! Are you serious Clare after he wrote that vile…"

"We don't know it was him and no I don't want to tell the others they're just going to get as mad as you are and Adam will use it to get me to tell Eli." I say firmly.

"I don't see why you just don't tell Eli as far as I'm concerned he can come help us beat the tar out of Shostack." Owen smirks.

I scowl at him, "Owen stop, no one is going to beat up Asher. Please Owen don't say anything, I don't want Mike and Adam or Bianca and Drew for that matter to get more worried and angry. If you hadn't been sitting next to me, you wouldn't even know." He glowers at me. "Owen please don't say anything, if I can trace it back to him somehow then it's proof of sexual harassment and I can bring him up on charges. If I can't or it turns out he didn't send it and you tell them…" I pause taking a deep breath and swallowing back the rears still trying to brak free. "Owen please just don't say anything?" I plead, clasping my hands together and batting my eyes at him.

He looks at me a minute and sighs deeply, his whole body relaxing and sinking a little. "Fine I won't say a word…for now."

"Thank you Owen." I smile at him and kiss his cheek.

The bell sounds through the halls and we go to the door grabbing our stuff and exiting into the hallway to see a few students looking at us curiously. I walk briskly to class and sit down at my desk behind Alli and in front of Adam.

Alli turns to me, "I heard some puck bunnies saying Owen dragged you into the storage room to make out?"

"Connor said Owen and you were arguing in the resource center and he dragged you away." Adam adds from behind me.

"We didn't go into the storage room to make out Alli," I assure them, "I'm dating Mike, you know that. I mean we've been on a date and have another on Saturday."

"Then what were arguing about and why did you guys go in the storage room?" Asks Adam.

I turn to look at him and I see his face change as he realizes but as Miss Oh comes in and class starts he can't start arguing with me about it. As soon as the bell rings I grab my stuff and walk to the door but Adam and Alli are quickly at my side.

"So what did Owen want with you?" Alli asks.

"He uh just wanted some help studying for his test." I say quickly.

"And he had to drag you to the storage room for that?" She asks.

"He was embarrassed Alli forget about it okay? Or at least use your powers of gab to tell the school nothing is going on with me and Owen." I tell her.

"That I will happily do. You're still coming to my house to get ready on Saturday and spending the night after right?" She asks.

"Yeah I'll be there around five, Dave still driving us and your parents still going to their party?" I inquire.

"Yep Dave and Connor will pick us up at 7:30 and my parents won't be home till after two so as long as we're home and out of costume by then my parents won't see my costume and flip out." She laughs.

I smile a little and shake my head, "Mike said the team was getting ready together and he'd meet me on the steps at eight so that works perfect. Adam what time are you and Eli getting there?" I ask turning to him.

"Oh uh I don't know whenever we're finished getting ready I guess." He says but he looks distracted and I know he's waiting to talk to me.

Alli rolls her eyes, "Well I have to go spread the word that you Owen weren't do anything in the storage room." She smiles and walks away.

Adam turns to me, "Did something else happen Clare? Connor said Owen was seriously pissed. He thought Owen was going to hurt someone."

"No Adam he was just trying to convince me to go to Asher's boss again and we were arguing about it. We moved to the storage room so no one else could hear." I say biting my lip and convincing myself I wasn't totally lying to Adam.

**(DALLAS)**

I was sitting at lunch with the team when the coach walked over and put a pile of tickets on the table. I grabbed the whole stack to get three together for Clare, Adam and Eli.

"Oh hey can you pull one out for Becky? She wants to come this week." Luke says and I nod.

"Hey Cam Maya's coming again right?" I ask looking at our rookie. He nods and I look at Owen who has been sitting very pensively all through lunch and hasn't eaten and I wonder if it has something to do with the dissipating rumors about him and Clare. "Tris is coming to the game I assume?" He doesn't seem to hear me, he's deep in thought and I put a hand on his arm, he jerks just slightly and looks at me. "You need a ticket for Tristan right?"

"Oh yeah he's coming to the game like always." Owen says snapping back to reality.

I find six tickest together, hand one to Luke, one to Cam, one to Owen and put the other three in my pocket to give Adam, Clare and Eli then I turn back to Owen. "What's up with you man? I know you weren't making out with Clare this morning but you never did tell me what you were doing?"

"Arguing about her turning in Asher." He says in a low voice.

"Why were you arguing about that again? You know she's not going to, she's scared he'll turn it around on her like he threatened to." I told him.

"Yeah just thought I'd give it a shot." He says and quickly stands up, "I'm gonna go give Tris his ticket."

"_Okay that was weird Owen almost never acknowledges his brother in school. Guess I'll go give Clare and the guys their tickets too." _I get up from the table and walk out to the picnic tables where I know they eat.

"Hey Mike." Clare smiles brightly lighting her whole face, her eyes glowing and she looks so beautiful. I'm vaguely aware of Adam and Eli waving.

"Hey guys, here's your tickets for tomorrow's game." I say handing them each a ticket.

"Thanks Mike, I look forward to coming to your games now." Clare chirps hopping off the table and kissing my cheek.

I automatically put my arm around her, holding her to me. "And I look forward to seeing you there and scoring goals for you Princess."

She blushes and bites her lip, it's quite sexy. The bell rings and they gather up their stuff and walk into the school, I stay at Clare's side and as Adam and Eli part from her to go to their own classes I pull her into a corner.

"Ummm Mike I need to get to class." She says slightly nervous.

"Has Asher done something new? What were you and Owen arguing about this morning?" I ask.

"He wanted me to go to Asher's boss and I said no like always. Now I really need to get to class." She says and before I can argue or ask any more questions she gives me a quick gentle kiss on the lips then turns and briskly and walks down the hall.

**(CLARE)**

"Wow it's really packed." Eli comments as we arrive at the Ice Hounds arena for the game on Friday evening.

"It's always like this; the hardest part is making your way through the people without Tristan's help." I tell them as we try shoving our way past the throngs of pushy people.

Eli and Adam move in front of me and they manage to start shoving people out of the way, I grab Adam's jacket so I don't get lost and we make it to our seats. We're in the front again but this time we're sitting by where the team comes out. Tristan and Maya are already there but so is Becky sitting in the aisle seat.

"Hi Clare, Eli, Adam isn't this fun? I love coming to Luke's hockey games." Becky hops up and squeals hugging each of us.

Eli rolls his eyes and I smack his arm. "Be nice her brothers on the team." I scold him.

He nods but sits down by Tristan which is far from Becky and says hi to him and Maya. I sit down next to Eli as Becky grabs Adam's hand sitting him in the empty seat between me and her while she continues talking animatedly to him. Tristan and Eli began talking about the play and Maya gets up and grabs my hand.

"Come on the team will come out in a few moments." She says pulling me to the railing.

A moment later the music starts and the team begins coming out. Campbell appears first Maya squeals his name and he looks up and smiles at her. A few more players emerge and then Owen, Tristan cheers for his brother as do I and he sees me leaning on the railing and smiles holding up his gloved hand for me to high five, which I do. Then Luke comes out and Becky runs over and cheers really loudly with a high pitched right next to my ear, he waves to her as I cringe from her squeal. The rest of the team skated out and finally Dallas appears, I hear Adam cheering behind me when they announce his name, I cheer loudly and call his name, he looks up at me grabs on to the railing hopping up and kissing my cheek. I sit back down as the opposing team comes out, stand up again for the national anthem and then sit down again as the game starts. Maya, Tristan, Becky and I hop up and cheer every time the Ice Hounds get the puck, score a goal or someone on the opposing team gets body checked. Adam started hopping up and cheering with us after the first few times, Eli seemed like he was having a good time but he remained seated and wouldn't cheer.

"When did you become such a cheerleader Edwards?" Eli teases after I hop up and scream particularly loud when Dallas makes a goal.

I turn to him with a slight scowl. "Shut up Goldsworthy you know you're having a good time now get up here and cheer with us." I demand pulling him up just as Luke gets the puck.

He rolls his eyes but he starts cheering too, not quite as enthusiastically as the rest of us but hey at least he was cheering. At the end of the first period Maya, Tristan and I get up to get food like we always do and when the others remain seated we turn back to them.

"If you're hungry we should get in line for food now because the lines get crazy by the end of second period." Tristan says waving them up.

Becky jumps up grabbing Adam's hand and Eli follows, the six of us get in line and Becky never stops talking, I think she might actually talk more than Alli. By the end of the game Eli was cheering without being prodded, Becky hadn't been quiet for more than five seconds at a time and the Ice Hounds won 3 -1.

"Let's head to Little Miss Steaks." Maya says hopping up.

Tristan and Eli walk ahead of us pushing everyone out of the way, so we can get out of the arena. When we make it outside the winter night is dark and cold but the moon is full and with the street lights we can see just fine.

"Oh it's so cold." Becky says, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Here." Adam says taking off his jacket and putting it on her shoulders.

She smiles sweetly at him, "Thanks but won't you be cold?"

"Nah I'll be fine, I dress in lawyers," he assures her.

When we enter the restaurant Marisol looks at us. "Hey guys, you sitting with the hockey team again or at your table?"

"Owen said we should sit with them from now on after that drunk guy hit on Clare so we'll sit with the team." Tristan says.

"Okay well you know where they sit, just push the tables together." Marisol says.

"What drunk guy?" Eli asks.

"Yeah I didn't hear about that." Adam states as Becky hands him back his jacket.

"Some guy had too much to drink and hit on me at the juke box, Mike and Owen scared him off quite effectively and I was fine." I explain.

"We should probably push three tables together since there's so many of us." Maya points out.

So we push 3 tables together in the corner and the six of us sit down along one side, Becky on the end next to Adam, Tristan, Eli, Maya and me. Marisol comes over and we all order dessert and sodas.

"Umm Eli?" Becky ventures her voice shy and unsure rather than bright and it causes us all to look at her.

"Yes Becky?" He queries arching an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry I over reacted about Tristan playing Jules I really do want to work on the play though. I'll do anything, costumes, stage manager, your assistant anything." Becky pleads.

Eli looks thoughtful for a minute and I see Adam kick him under the table. "Sure Becky," he says after giving Adam the slightest glare, "but what I say goes and you can't complain or say anything about the play having two male leads or…"

She cut him off, "I won't I promise, my parents may not approve of the theme but I want to work on the play, it's all I've wanted since I got to DeGrassi."

"Okay then be at practice on Monday." Eli tells her.

"Oh thank you Eli you won't regret this." Becky Squeals. "So is everyone going to the ball tomorrow night?" She asks us and we all nod, "It's going to be so much fun. Most of the team is coming to our house to get ready and we're all carpooling together, well in like 3 or 4 cars. My brothers driving one car and I'm riding with him, but Owen and…oh here's the team."

Becky had been talking so much and so lively that we hadn't heard the team coming in. Luke sat down by his sister and she hugged him and congratulated him on the teams win. Dallas came and grabbed my hand moving me over one chair and Campbell took my seat next to Maya, Dallas sits next to me and Owen next to him. The rest of the team sits down as Marisol brings over a couple pitchers of soda and tells them their pizza will be out soon.

"Hey you guys know Becky Baker, and for those of you who don't know that is my billet brother Adam and that's Eli, Clare and Adam's best friend and director of our school musical." Dallas makes the introductions then puts his arm around the back of my chair.

The team nods or waves while Becky's smile somehow gets bigger and she turns to Luke. "Eli said I can work on the play again, isn't he great? Wasn't that nice? I mean I was a pretty big jerk."

"Great Becks." Luke smiles.

Marisol and a couple other waiters bring our dessert orders and the hockey team's pizza and we all start eating. Becky talks with Adam a lot and I had to wonder if there was the possibility of a budding romance. Eli spent most of the time talking with Tristan and ignoring the team but I could tell he was having a good time. Dallas was talking, mostly with Owen, I didn't talk much but I didn't feel out of place, I was always comfortable around Dallas and Owen. I was even at ease around the rest of the team at this point. When Dallas finished eating he put his arm around me and pulled me close and as always we stayed until closing.

"I borrowed Omar's car tonight since the eight of us won't fit in Owen's car." Dallas says as we exit to the parking lot.

"Bye see you all tomorrow night!" Becky calls as she walks off with her brother and we all wave.

We wave to Tristan, Owen, Maya and Campbell as they get into Owen's suburban and we get into Mr. Torres' car. I sit in the front and Adam and Eli take the back, Dallas drops Eli off first.

"Thanks for the ticket to the game and the ride home Dallas. I did actually have fun tonight." Eli says getting out of the car.

"No problem Eli just let me know if you want to come to another game." Dallas smiles.

"Sure, see you guys tomorrow night. Adam you still coming over at two?" Eli asks.

Adam nods and Eli waves and I call goodnight as he starts walking to his door, he turns and waves once more before going inside.

"Hey Dallas can I drive? You are a licensed driver." Adam requests before we start driving again.

"Well…" Dallas says and looks like he's thinking about it.

"If I drive you can sit in the back and hold Clare." Adam points out.

"Adam!" I turn back to look at him and he just shrugs and smiles.

"Good point, you drive." Dallas says getting out of the driver's seat and trading places with Adam.

I shake my head a little at Adam but smile and bite my lip as I get out of the front seat and move to the back, scooting into the middle so I can sit next to Dallas.

"Better put your seat belt on, he's still learning." Dallas says buckling my seat belt for me, forcing him to reach across my chest.

"Hey I'm a good driver!" Adam says defensively and I giggle.

Dallas puts his arm around me and I lean into him, he takes my hand and interlaces our fingers, I smile and look up at him biting my lip again but I release my lip when he crushes our lips together. I reach up with my free hand placing it at the back of his neck and deepening the kiss.

"Hey I said hold not make out!" Adam grumbles from the front seat and we break apart.

"Sorry Adam." I giggle. When we reach my house I reach up and kiss Dallas on more time. I then unbuckle my seat belt, lean over and kiss Adam on the cheek. "Thanks for driving Adam, see you guys tomorrow night."

"Goodnight Clare." Adam says as I get out of the car.

"Goodnight Princess see you at the ball tomorrow." Dallas calls.

I smile and bite my lip walking to my door, I slip my key in the lock turn and wave one more time as they drive off and then go into the house. I lock the door and walk up to my room with one thought on my mind. _"I can't wait for tomorrow night!"_

**Next Update the Costume Ball! I'll try and have it up sometime Wed.**


	14. Masquerade

**I don't own DeGrassi**

**POV skips around a bit, sorry it was necessary and it's long so settle in.**

**Ch.14 Masquerade**

**(CLARE)**

"ALLI! If you make the corset any tighter I won't be able to breathe." I exclaim as she tightens the laces of my corset for my costume. "Also I'm all boobs now." I declare looking the mirror.

"Yeah but Dallas will like it." Alli giggles as she ties the corset.

"YOU GIRLS READY YET?" Dave yelled up the stairs.

"We better get down there before Dave kills us." Alli sighs slipping on her six inch patent leather stiletto's that complete her Playboy Bunny outfit.

"Hang on let me tie up my pearls," Jenna says. She is dressed as a flapper, her fringed dress is aquamarine, she has white gloves and matching shoes, and a large string of pearls. "Don't forget you're tiara Clare." Jenna reminds me placing it on my head.

I am dressed as a Princess; my dress is amethyst in color with sleeves that come off the shoulder. My corset is silver and matches my 3 inch heels, which couldn't be seen under the floor length skirt of my gown. Alli had done my hair and makeup, I wore the amethyst earrings and necklace my grandmother had given me on my 15th birthday and of course the tiara Jenna had just put in my hair. It wasn't a real tiara of course just one I bought from the party store but still it completed the outfit. We descended the stairs to Alli's living room and I had to hold up my skirt to keep from falling.

"Don't you ladies look lovely, a beautiful Princess, a lovely flapper and mmmhmm my sexy playboy bunny." Dave says as we come down the stairs.

Dave was dressed in a tuxedo. "You look pretty good yourself…" Alli started.

"Bond, James Bond." Dave says wrapping his arms around Alli. "How about we skip the dance bunny you look too good." Dave suggests nuzzling into Alli's neck.

"I'm pretty sure if we don't get Clare to the dance Dallas will send the whole hockey team to find her." Alli says smacking him away lightly.

Dave looks at me and I smile, biting my lip. "Good point, alright everyone in the car."

We grab coats and purses and walk out to the car and Connor, or Captain Kirk as was his costume, helps me down Alli's front steps. We arrive at the school ten minutes later and they wait on the steps with me for Dallas. A few minutes later I see the Torres minivan, Owen's car and Luke's car pull into the parking lot. A minute later Becky comes running up, she was dressed as an Angel, I could have guessed.

"Oh Clare you look so pretty, gosh you all look so nice. Oh Jenna I love your costume come into the dance with me." Becky chirped excitedly, pulling Jenna into the building with her and we all laugh.

A minute later the team walks up they are all dressed as Pirates, Dallas stops when he sees me, stares for a second and smiles big, even Owen looks me over and smiles. I bite my lip and blush as Dallas runs up the stairs and comes to me placing his hands on my waist.

"So a Princess huh?" He smirks.

"Well you are always calling me Princess." I reply.

He put his arms around my back pulling me closer, I loop my arms around his neck and our lips crash together. He pulls me even closer, licks my bottom lip and I part mine, my foot lifts from the floor going up behind me and I deepen the kiss.

"You know I think I have a romance novel entitled The Princess and The Pirate," Alli states as soon as we kiss. "and I'm pretty sure that's the cover."

We break apart smiling blissfully, I take my arms from his neck and he takes one from me but keeps an arm around my waist as we walk inside with the others.

"You guys are the best looking pirates I've ever seen." I tell them as we walk down the dim hallway toward the gym.

"Well thank you Clare, you make one lovely Princess yourself." Owen compliments.

"Hey where's Campbell?" I ask realizing I don't see the youngest Ice Hound.

"Oh he got ready at Tori's house with Tris and the others." Owen informs me and I assume by others he means Maya and Zig.

We enter the gym to find it already full of costumed students and chaperones. We all enter as one large group but soon most of the team split off. I see Adam and Eli, wave to them and they come over to say hi to me, Dallas, Owen, Alli, Dave, and Connor.

"Why Adam you look simply devilish." I say hugging him. He is wearing a red tuxedo with his signature black converse, a black dress shirt, red tie and devil horns in his brown hair. Eli is dressed as count Dracula, cape and all he even slicked back his hair. "And count Eli, I should have known you'd come as vampire." I laugh giving him a quick hug too.

"It's a good excuse for biting girls on the neck," Eli smiles and Dallas or possibly Owen or maybe both must have given him a look because he quickly adds, "except Princesses of course."

"Well I guess that leaves me out." Fiona chimes in suddenly appearing at our side dressed as Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin.

"I'm a Princess's Tiger can't bite me either." Imogen spoke coming to Fiona's side and putting an arm around her waist. Imogen is wearing black sneakers, orange and black striped tights and an orange and black long sleeve leotard. She'd even painted her face and had orange cat ears in her hair.

After several minutes of all of us complimenting each other on our costumes, Connor says he's going to find Wesley and Dallas pulls me out to the dance floor.

"Have I told you that you look exquisitely beautiful tonight?" Dallas asks and I bite my lip.

A slow song started and his arms come around my back and my hands went to the back of his neck. When the song was close to finishing he moves his hands to my waist lifts me up above him, twirls me around and brings me down just enough to smash our lips together when the song finishes.

"Oh you guys are so cute, and you both look so good." Tristan compliments as Dallas sets me on the floor again.

I turn around and smile at them, Tristan is dressed as the Mad Hatter, Maya is a Native American girl, she even has a long, dark braided wig; Cam is a Pirate of course like the rest of the team and Tori and Zig are a Geisha and a Samurai.

"Thanks you guys look great too." I return the compliment.

Dallas and I dance to a couple more songs and I spot Connor and Wes dancing with a couple of girls from the computer club, Wes is dressed like Charlie Chaplin.

"Let's get something to eat, after so much dancing I'm hungry." I request. He smiles taking my hand and we walk to the buffet table, it was mostly finger foods but it was a pretty good spread and I spy two familiar faces as we approach the table. "Hey Saloon girl don't you look hot." I state hugging Bianca in her sapphire saloon girl dress.

"You look pretty hot yourself Princess chesty." Bianca smiles, "Cowboy Drew here can't stop looking at your bust."

I giggle, she elbows him and he snaps out of it. "Sorry Clare, you look really nice." He smiles but his cheeks were just a tiny bit red.

"It's okay blame Alli, she laced the corset to do this." I tell them.

"Remind me to thank Alli." Dallas whispers in my ear and I bite my lip.

"We were going to eat you guys wanna sit together?" Drew asks.

Dallas and I nod and after we all get food we went to find a table, sat down and began eating. After a few minutes Becky and Luke join us.

"Clare isn't this fun? Don't you just love the decorations? Adam looks great in his devil costume don't you think? Do you think he'd dance with me?" Becky asks excitedly in practically one breath. I was about to answer her when I saw a chaperone dressed as the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera and it looked like Asher and I froze, she puts her hand on my arm calling my name and I look back at her. "Clare? You okay?"

I look back to where I'd seen him but he was gone and I shake my head internally scolding myself for seeing things. "Sorry Becky I just thought…never mind I'm sure Adam would love to dance with you. You should go ask him." I encourage her and she leaves the table and skips over to Adam.

"Speaking of dancing with your friends I'm gonna go ask Jenna to dance." Luke says getting up from the table too.

Bianca and Drew finish eating and go back to the dance floor.

"Shall we dance?" Dallas asks standing up and offering me his hand.

I smile and we get up and start walking to the dance floor but stop when Jake, Katie, Marisol and Mo approach us. By the look on Jake's face I could tell he didn't approve of how much cleavage I was showing but he didn't say anything. Jake and Katie are Bonnie and Clyde, Marisol is a sexy witch and Mo is a DeGrassi football player zombie, he'd cut up his old uniform, put fake blood on it and did full zombie makeup. After complimenting each other's costumes and a bit of small talk the six of us go out to the dance floor. I smile happily when I see Adam and Becky dancing and they both look really happy. After three more fast songs and another slow one I was hot, tired and thirsty.

"I need something to drink." I tell Dallas. He offers me his arm and we walk to the table with a punch bowl on it. Dallas pours us each a cup of punch and spying some of the team nearby he put a hand on my lower back and escorts me over. He begins talking with the team, his arm around me as I silently sip my drink. They were talking about their league and I was totally lost. I finish my drink and slip out of his arm to throw my cup away; he suddenly stops talking and looks at me. "Just throwing away my cup but I do need to use the washroom."

I lean up and kiss his cheek before walking through the gym doors, tossing my cup in one of the trashcans as I exit and then walk to the washroom. I finish in the stall and check my hair and makeup in the mirror quickly before leaving and heading back to the dance and Dallas. Without warning a figure steps in front of me in the dimly lit hallway, but there's enough light to see him, its Asher dressed as the Phantom. I gasp and my breath leaves me as my heart begins to pound.

"You shouldn't be walking by yourself in a darkened hallway." He says his voice oozing with so much lascivious lechery I feel like I need a shower just hearing it. "Ooooh you do look fucking sexy." He adds staring at my chest and licking his lips.

I want to turn and run but my feet won't move and he'd probably just follow me anyway and in this dress and these heels he'd easily catch me or I'd just fall. "This is my school you shouldn't be here." I tell him trying hard to hide how frightened I am from him. He just chuckles and takes a step forward. I instantly shrink in and put up my hands, "Get away from me I'll scream!"

"No one will hear you Clare." His eyes are full of lust and I internally gag. I open my mouth to scream but only get out a short choked squeal as he slams me into the wall. I hit with a hard thud and cough trying to catch my breath. "This dress really suits you Clare, I love how it makes your breasts look in it, so very…" he pauses sucking a breath in through his teeth, "squeezable." He finishes and then squeezes my breasts hard and kisses my neck.

I feel a tear run down my cheek, as I regain my breath, the noise of some other students coming towards us distracts Asher and I push him away. I hear a short ripping sound but I don't care, just pick up my skirt and take off running for the gym again. I pause just before the doorway and look behind me; I don't see Asher so I lean against the wall and let a few tears fall. I take a few deep breaths and compose myself enough to go back in to the dance. I look around for Dallas but he's not where I left him and the whole team is dressed as Pirates, I don't see him anywhere in the sea of Pirates. I don't see Adam either but Tristan, and his friends are at a table right by the door.

"Hey have you guys seen Mike or Adam?" I ask managing to keep my voice steady.

They shake their heads and are looking at me curiously and I wonder if my voice wasn't as steady as I thought.

"I haven't seen Dallas or Adam but my brother's right there." Tristan says pointing behind me and I see Owen leaning on the wall talking with Luke, Bo and Ingvar.

I walk to Owen and I hear Tristan and the others getting up from the table and following me. "Owen do you know where Mike or Adam are?"

I stand behind him a bit and he looks over toward the dance floor and doesn't see me yet. "Uh I haven't seen Dallas since he was dancing with you and last time I saw Adam he was dancing with Becky but I don't see them on the dance floor now." He turns to look at me, and I know I must look frightened again as I can feel tears pushing at my eyes once more, then he looks behind me at Tristan and his friends. "Clare what's wrong? What happened to your dress?" He asks fingering the sleeve I now realize was torn.

"He's…he's here." I say quietly no longer able to keep my voice steady or the tears back as a couple slip down my cheeks.

"He? He wh…wait you mean?" I nod in response and watch as his face suddenly turns murderous, and he touches my torn sleeve again, "Did he touch you?"

I nod and Owen growls angrily. "He's dressed like the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera." I say quietly.

His arm comes around my shoulders protectively. He looks at Luke and the others opens his mouth, closes it again then opens it again although not much as his teeth are gritted. "Look for an older guy dressed like the Phantom of the Opera and if you see him kick his ass, and then call me so we can kick his ass." Owen commands, Luke and the twins nod and disperse. Owen looks at Tristan and the others, "You guys find Dallas, Adam and Drew and tell them to call me so I can tell them where we are, I'm taking Clare with me."

Owen tightens his arm around my shoulders and we walk out of the gym. Even though we're back in the dimly lit hallway I'm not scared, knowing if Asher approaches me again Owen will simply beat him silly. We go into the first unlocked classroom, the French classroom, he flips one light switch to turn on a few lights and I sit on a desk and he leans on the one next to me.

"How did he even get in here?" I ask after a minute of silence.

"He probably snuck in as a chaperone." Owen says putting a comforting hand at my back.

We sit in silence for a couple of moments and then his phone starts to ring.

**(ADAM)**

After dancing for six songs with Becky we have to take a break and were at the punch bowl talking and flirting when Tristan came up to us.

"Adam, my brother wants you to call him, he took Clare somewhere and she looked upset." Tristan tells me he sounds confused.

I catch a breath in my throat and can feel my heart pounding, this can't be good and I fear it has to do with Asher. I turn to Becky and try to smile letting out the breath. "Becky could you excuse me please?"

"Oh sure see you later Adam, thanks for dancing with me." Becky smiles, hugs me and kisses my cheek before walking away.

I pull out my phone and then realize something, "I don't know Owen's number." I tell Tristan, he takes my phone and puts in the number. He stands nervously for a second and then walks away again as I hear Owen pick up the phone. "Hey it's Adam what's going on is she okay?"

"He's here, she's with me in the French classroom." Owen tells me and by his voice I know Asher touched her again and my fists clench as I hang up my phone.

I start walking for the gym door when Eli is suddenly at my side. "Hey you were dancing with Becky a lot and seemed to be getting along well so things were going good I assume?."

"Huh? Oh yeah they were going great." I say, speeding up a bit.

"Then why don't you seem happy?" Eli asks grabbing my arm and stopping me from walking.

"Clare's…" I grab his sleeve and start walking again, "Come on you'll find out for yourself, she needs to tell you."

**(DREW)**

Bianca and I were taking a break from dancing sitting at the table to drink some punch. I was enjoying having her on my lap and thinking of how I was going to ravish her in her saloon girl dress later when Zig from Adam's band and his girlfriend suddenly rush up to the table.

"Drew Owen says you should call him so he can tell you where he and Clare are?" Zig tells me.

My eyebrows knit together and Bianca looks just as confused as I am. "Huh?"

"Clare was upset and told Owen he was here, but I don't know who he is. Owen got real pissed off and asked if he touched her and Clare said yes and…"

Bianca cut him off as we both realize whats was going on. "That fucker is here?!"

"Thanks guys." I say as Bianca hops off my lap, I pull out my phone and call Owen.

"We're in the French classroom." Owen says as soon as he picks up.

"We're on our way." I tell him.

**(DALLAS)**

I was talking with Fi and Imogen while waiting for Clare to get back from the washroom.

"Dallas," I was interrupted by Cam and Maya rushing up to me. "You need to call Owen, he took Clare somewhere she was upset, her dress was torn and they kept talking about a he." Cam tells me.

I know my face went hard, I felt the fire rise in me.

"Dallas what's wrong is Clare okay?" Fiona asks.

I turn back to them. "If Owen's with her she's okay now but I need to go check on her." They nod and I start walking for the exit pulling out my phone to call Owen. He tells me they're in the French classroom and I take off running.

**(CLARE)**

While Owen is on the phone for the third time the door opens and Adam walks in. I get off the desk and run to him embracing him tightly, he hugs me back just as tightly. "I thought I saw him earlier Adam but I looked away and looked back and he was gone so I told myself my mind was playing tricks. I should have…" I stop realizing Eli is behind him and release Adam from the hug. "You told him!"

"Adam didn't tell me anything. What's going on Clare? Who is he? And why is your dressed ripped?" Eli demands more than asks.

I bite my lip unsure of where to begin but the door is thrown open and Drew, Bianca and Dallas come in. I go to Dallas and he wraps me in his arms and I hear the others taking seats on the desks. Dallas releases me just a little taking me to the teacher's desk and lifting me up onto it, he examines my torn sleeve and then sits on the desk next to me.

"What happened Princess?" Dallas asks.

I bite my lip, Dallas wraps an arm around me and takes my hand, I look at our interlaced fingers and take a deep breath before beginning. "I thought I saw him earlier dressed as Phantom of the Opera but I looked away and looked back and he was gone, so I convinced myself that I was seeing things. After all I haven't heard a peep from him since the flowers and…"

Owen cuts me off, "What about the IM?"

I look up at Owen, biting hard on my lip; they all look at Owen and back at me.

"What IM?" Adam asks first.

"I got a short but vile IM on Tuesday, Owen was with me when I got it which is the only reason he knows." I tell them.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Dallas asks.

"Because I couldn't prove it was him. There were no names on the IM and when I had Connor trace the account name which was nothing more than a random string of letters and numbers, it came back to a dead account. An account that was created and deleted in a twenty minute period. I couldn't prove he sent it and I didn't want to tell any of you and get you all angry for no reason and I asked Owen to keep his mouth shut about it." I explain.

"It was definitely sent by that bastard I printed a copy though." Owen assures them.

"I'm sure it was but he's smart, he knows about evidence trails, he interviews cops and covers trials all the time." I predicate.

"What happened tonight?" Dallas asks his voice has a hard edge to it.

"He stepped in front of me in the hallway on my way back from the washroom. He said I shouldn't be walking down dark hallways by myself. He said I…" I swallow back some tears and squeeze Dallas' hand a little harder. "I looked fucking sexy, I told him he shouldn't be at my school and he came closer to me. I told him I'd scream, he said no one would hear me and I opened my mouth to scream and he slammed me against the wall. While I was coughing to catch my breath he was talking about how my breasts look in the dress and then he grabbed…" I have to pause to swallow tears again and Dallas tightens his hold on me. "Crushed my breasts in his hands and kissed my neck. A noise distracted him and I pushed him away and ran back to the dance."

"That bastard, now he's stalking you and coming into our school to assault you. We have to…" Bianca starts.

I look up, "No! I told you we can't he'll bring charges against me!"

"Clare…" Adam begins but I cut him off.

"Adam no I told you we can't…" I begin to rant and can feel myself getting hysterical when I catch sight of Eli. He's perched on the edge of the desk, his face is angry, all his features thin and hard and he's gripping the edge of the desk so tightly his knuckles are luminescently white. "Could everyone else step out of the room for a few minutes so that I can speak with Eli alone?" Dallas turns to me he looks unsure about leaving me alone with Eli. "It's okay." I assure him, kissing his cheek.

"We'll be just outside he says," either assuring me or warning Eli or possibly both.

**(DALLAS)**

Adam leaves the room first, Owen, Drew and Bianca follow quickly but I linger a minute. I know Clare and Eli have a history and I know he's bipolar and subject mood swings, but she seems to trust him so I leave the room, closing the door behind me. I lean on the wall as we huddle into a tight group.

"I know Clare's scared to come forward but we have to do something. He's stalking her now, coming after her even at the school and I'm afraid he's really going hurt her soon." Adam laments.

"I agree that fuckers obsessed and Clare's right he's smart he's making it nearly impossible for us to just turn in him in. All we have is her word and ours from what she tells us, none of us have ever seen him attack her." I say irately punching the wall next to me.

"So what do we do?" Adam asks and we all fall silent.

I can hear the muffled sound of Clare talking, she sounds sad and shy. Then Eli talks, his voice louder and angrier but still muffled so I can't entirely make out what he's saying. For several minutes we all stay silently thinking about what to do about Asher.

"We could write an anonymous letter to Asher's editor, leave Clare's name out of it and just say they should look into his conduct with his female interns." Bianca suggests.

"Great, everyone come to our house tomorrow so we can write it." Adam instructs and the others nod.

Drew opens his mouth to say something but we hear a loud bang from inside the classroom and Clare say Eli's name loudly and she sounds scared. I turn and head back into the room to see Clare holding Eli's hand.

**(CLARE)**

Dallas and the others left the room and Eli looks up at me. "Asher your boss at the Interpreter he assaulted you?!"

"Yes." I nod biting my lip.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Eli asks his voice gruff with anger.

"I didn't want you to blow a gasket. After how far you've come I didn't want to set you off. I didn't want to, couldn't be the person to make you take a step backwards because of my problem. I couldn't do that to you Eli, besides by the time it started I was almost done with my internship." I confess to him.

"When did it start?" He asks, his voice had softened a little but his face remained just as hard and furious.

"A couple of weeks ago after I stayed late to work on my article with him he kissed me. I ran out, I didn't tell anyone, I was sure it was a mistake. When I confronted him the next day he said it was, that he was going through a rough divorce and lost his head for a moment. I couldn't lose my internship Eli and I wanted to believe him so I did and I didn't say anything to anyone. The next Monday he asked me to go with him to the mayoral debate. I was actually excited Eli and I had a great time until we got back to his car." I pause for a brief minute to swallow the tears as the painful memories came flooding back. "I told him I didn't know how I could ever thank him for bringing me. He caressed my cheek and said he could think of a way. I got scared and tried to get out of the car but he locked the door and I couldn't get it unlocked. He groped me and I begged him to let me out. He tore my clothes and I finally got the lock up but before I could get out of the car he grabbed my arm roughly, leaving the bruise you saw several days ago. He told me I had to come back and finish my internship and not to say anything. That if I told anyone or tried to bring him up on charges he'd file charges against me and say that I harassed him, that I was obsessed with him. And since I wrote so many e-mails, texts, tweets and IM's of me fawning over working with him it would be easy to prove. That no one will believe me and no one will."

Eli interrupted me. "We believe you Clare."

I ignore him and continue, knowing that my friends believing me isn't going to be enough. "He left me in the city hall parking lot; I didn't want to go home I was to upset. I thought about calling you Eli, I really did but I knew you'd get out of me why I was so upset and you'd go ballistic. I couldn't go to Alli's, Adam couldn't drive and I knew they'd both go ballistic too if they found out. But I always feel safe at Adam's so I called Mike to come pick me up and slept at Adam's house. Mike saw my ripped clothes and forced me to tell him what happened. When Adam found me there the next morning I had to tell him too and he let it slip to Drew, Bianca and Owen the next day as I was leaving to go back to my internship. That's how they all found out but no one else knows. At the end of my shift that morning Asher assaulted me again in the copy room. There were a few more incidents before my internship was finally over. I thought that was the end of it but he sent me flowers on Sunday, carnations and daisies not roses or anything that would look suspicious. The card that came with it said I was a pleasure to work with, mature beyond my years and he hopes we can work together again soon. Sounds perfectly innocent…"

He cuts me off, "Unless you know what he's done to you." Eli says enraged and punctuates his ire by punching the desk with a terrible force.

When he brings his hand back up I see his knuckles are bloody. "ELI!" I exclaim hopping off the desk and rushing to his side. I gingerly pick up his hand and place it in mine, his face is still hard with anger but I see him wince in pain as I take his hand. "This is why I didn't tell you Eli, because I was afraid of how you'd react, that you'd hurt yourself or someone else."

"Clare…" He starts but is cut off when the door bursts open and the others come back in the room.

"What happened?" Adam asks pushing his way to the front.

"He punched the desk; I think he might have broken his hand." I tell them.

"It's fine." Eli says still angry.

"No it's not Eli. Adam take him to have it looked at please." I plead, already upset over the incident with Asher seeing Eli hurt himself over me has nearly pushed me over the edge.

Adam comes over and takes Eli's arm, pulling him gently from the room.

"Let's get back to the dance," Owen says after they leave room.

Dallas puts his arm around me again and the five of us walk back to the gym. I don't feel much like dancing and apparently neither do the others as we all sit at a table. I look over and see Alli and Dave dancing happily, even Jenna and Becky are having a good time on the dance floor, dancing together.

"I'm supposed to sleep at Alli's tonight but after what happened with Asher I…"

Dallas pulls me into his lap and holds me close. "You'll sleep at the Torres house with me."

"What about the Torres parents? Last time I checked Audra didn't let girls stay the night." I question linking my arms around his neck.

"They're gone, out of town until Sunday morning and after Asher attacked you in our own school I'm not letting you sleep anywhere but my arms tonight." He tells me. I smile and bring my lips to his, kissing him softly, pulling away after a minute. "By the way you know you're my girlfriend."

I smile brightly, "I hoped but was afraid to bring it up. We never did have the boyfriend talk after our first date."

"You're my girlfriend I'm your boyfriend talk over." He says crushing our lips together again.

"Well it's about time you two became official." Owen teases from the other side of the table.

Bianca whoops happily and I feel Drew slap Dallas on the shoulder. When we pull apart he's smiling widely and I'm giggling elatedly.

"Owen we saw him and chased him around the building but he disappeared." Luke speaks coming up beside Dallas and I, he doesn't say his name but I know he means Asher and my face falls. "We think he's gone but we can't be sure he won't double back." Luke finishes.

I cling to Dallas a little tighter. "Mike I want to go now, please."

"Of course Princess." He says gently taking me off his lap and we both stand. "We'll see you guys tomorrow." Dallas says to Owen, Drew and Bianca.

They say goodbye and we retrieve my purse and coat and I tell Dallas to wait while I go talk to Alli. "Alli tell your parents I wasn't feeling well and went home."

She looks me over a second as does Dave. "Okay, call me tomorrow." She says hugging me and then seems to notice my torn sleeve but doesn't ask.

When I walk back to Dallas he's talking to Adam who seems to be getting his and Eli's coats. They must hear the click of my heels approach because they both turn to look at me.

"Cece's on her way to get us, I'm going with Eli to the ER and will stay at his house tonight. Dallas says you're spending the night at our house which is good but I better find your purity ring still on your finger when I get there tomorrow." Adam tells me.

"You will Adam." I assure him, hugging him kissing his cheek. "Call me when you know about Eli's hand." I request and Adam nods and walks out quickly, Dallas puts an arm around me and we walk out slowly. "My pajamas are in my bag at Alli's." I say as we walk down DeGrassi's steps.

"That's not a problem you can just sleep in one of my dress shirts again."

**Update soon continuing with Clare and Dallas at his house.**

**Shout out to Coastiewife465 for the anonymous letter idea and a shout out to Makingfrenchfriesinthesnow for helping me decide on Tristan's costume.**


	15. Make It Better

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch.15 Make it Better**

**(CLARE)**

Dallas unlocked the front door of the Torres house and escorted me inside; I drop my purse by the door and slip my jacket off. He puts his arm around me and walks me down the stairs to the basement, going to his closet and pulling out one of his dress shirts.

"Here, you can go change in the bathroom." He said handing me the shirt.

I bit my lip looking down at my dress and then at him in full pirate garb. "I'm sorry. I ruined our date, we could have stayed…"

He put his fingers under my chin and softly kissed my lips to cut me off. "You didn't ruin anything Princess. You wanted to leave the dance after Asher attacked you, that's his fault. I don't care about staying at the dance all I care about is being with you. Go get ready for bed we'll put on some movies."

I smile a little and nodded turning to go into the bathroom, took a couple of steps and then stopped. "Ummm could you untie my corset?"

He stepped up to me and I felt him pull at the silken laces and the corset loosened. He continued pulling at the laces until the corset was loose enough to pull over my head then he slowly slipped it off of me, gently kissing the back of my neck when he was done. I bit my lip and made the tiniest of gasps at the feel of his lips. He held onto the corset and I went into the bathroom closing the door behind me. I set his shirt down on the counter to take of the gown; kicking off my shoes first I unzipped the dress and stepped out of it. Pulling on Dallas' shirt I button it up, rolled the sleeves and exited the bathroom. He smiled when he saw me and came to me putting his arms around my lower back; I gently laid my arms on his.

"Have I mentioned girlfriend, how hot you look in my shirt?" He asked gazing at me with amorous eyes.

I smile, blushed and bit my lip, "No boyfriend I don't think you have."

"Then I'll say it now, you look hot and as always Princess very beautiful." He tells me and my smile brightens as I feel my cheeks get redder, he holds me a second longer before releasing me. "I'm gonna get out of this costume and get ready for bed, why don't you pick out a movie."

Dallas goes into the bathroom and I go to the varied selection of movies the Torres' own, most of them are action or sports movies and a few romances I expect are Audra's. I was looking through them trying to decide what to watch that Dallas would be okay with when I was sure I heard the sounds of someone outside. I held a breath, getting up and going to the sliding glass door, I turned on the light for the porch but no one was there. I looked all around outside, fearing that Asher had followed us and then an arm came around my chest, his hand resting on my shoulder and I jumped just slightly.

"Clare you okay?" Dallas asked holding me close to his now bare chest.

I put my hands on his arm and turn out the porch light. "Fine I just thought I heard someone outside, guess I'm a little jumpy still sorry."

He turned me to him, holding me with his hands at the small of my back. "Clare you were attacked in our school at what should have been a safe event. You have every right to be jumpy, stop apologizing Princess." I smile and he releases me and sits me on the couch, he stands and I can't help but bite my lip and blush to see him in nothing more than black boxers. It's not the first time I've seen him in so little dress but still the sight makes my heart jump. He looks at the movies a second and then pulls one out and puts it in and turns on the TV. "I put on Interview with a Vampire; Adam said you have a thing for vampires, which explains why Eli came to the ball as a vampire." He says sitting down next to me.

He puts his arm around me and I pull my legs onto the couch and lean into him as he covers us with the blanket from the back of the couch. "Eli has a predilection for death and all things gothic; he used to drive a hearse you know. I don't think his coming as Dracula had anything to do with me."

"And I think you underestimate how alluring you are." He says kissing my temple as the movie starts.

I lay my arm across his torso and cuddle into him and we fall silent to watch the movie. When the movie is nearly over Dallas' phone rings, he pauses the movie and I sit up allowing him to get off the couch so he can answer it. He walks behind the privacy screen to his portion of the basement and I hear him answer.

"Hey…sure hang on a sec." He appears from behind the screen again, sits next to me on the couch once more and hands me the phone. "It's Adam."

I take his phone. "Hey Adam how's Eli?"

"He's okay his hand is only sprained the doctor is wrapping it now. He'll have to keep it wrapped for several days so he'll have limited use of it." Adam tells me.

"I'm glad he didn't break it. Has he calmed down?" I inquire.

"Somewhat. How about you are you okay?" Adam asks.

"A little jumpy but I'm alright, besides Mike is with me so I know I'm safe." I assure Adam.

"Yeah me too which is why I didn't freak out when I called your phone and you didn't answer." Adam says with a slightly scolding tone.

"Sorry Adam I left my purse upstairs. Tell Eli I'm glad he didn't break his hand."

"I will," he says, "we'll see you in the morning, goodnight Clare."

I say goodnight to Adam and put Dallas' phone on the coffee table, cuddling up to him once more. When the movie ends he puts in another and I begin to succumb to sleep, laying my head on him, my eyes closing and then fluttering open as he gently strokes my arm. When the second movie is nearly at its end I finally give into sleep. Waking suddenly sometime later, I sit up with a jolt and a gasp in the bed. I'm sweating just slightly, panting hard as tears roll down my cheeks falling to my chest and his shirt. Dallas sits up too, wrapping his arms around me and I lay my head on his shoulder as my breathing slows.

"You okay?" He whispers brushing some hair from my face.

"Bad dream." I tell him quietly and he holds me tighter.

"You're safe, he can't get you here." He assures me.

"I know." I say turning to him and putting my arm around him, my hand at the back of his neck and crash our lips together.

He parts his lips and his tongue caresses my lips urging them to part and they do. His tongue finds mine and strokes it, his hands finding their way up the back of my shirt. I lay back on the bed pulling him with me, putting my other hand at the back of his neck and scratching at the back of his head with my nails. He pulls his hands from my back moving them to my belly. I feel something inside, a feverish wanting almost a need to feel him, for him to erase Asher to take him away entirely. I deepen the kiss pulling myself up just slightly to press into him, arching my back and I hear him moan, I can feel him through his boxers. A few tears slip from my cheeks as I remove my hands from his neck and bring them to the shirt undoing the first button; before I can undo the next one he pulls away from the kiss and puts his hand on mine.

"Clare stop!" He says pulling away from me completely. "We can't do this."

"Why not? Don't you want me? I felt you get hard!" I tell him turning on my side and putting my back to him as the tears continue to fall silently.

He moves next to me putting an arm around me and pressing my back to his chest. "Yes I want you, badly and if you were any other girl I would give in but you're not any other girl. You're my Princess and this is isn't right, you're not ready, you're scared after Asher's attack tonight." He caresses down my arm and takes my hand bringing it to his lips and kissing the purity ring on my finger. "Besides you made a vow."

"I don't believe in waiting till marriage anymore not since my parents' divorce, you know that, I told you I nearly slept Jake." I argue but I don't know why I'm bothering to argue or be so stubborn on the issue, he was right I was scared and yet there was still that fever to feel him.

"Maybe not till marriage but you said you were going to wait till you were in love." He points out interlacing our fingers. "I like you a lot Princess, maybe I even love you but it's too soon to tell. And you can't tell me you're in love with me so soon."

"And what if I said I was?" I ask squeezing his hand a little.

"I'd say you were lying and anyway I believe you promised Adam that your ring would still be on your finger in the morning." He says and kisses my cheek. "Clare you're crying, if you were ready you wouldn't be crying. Asher assaulted you again and you're scared I understand, I failed to protect you, it's my fault. I would love to be the one to receive the gift of your virginity but not like this Clare not tonight. I hope someday soon you are ready but tonight you're not." I turn into him putting my hands and forehead on his chest. "You want to tell me about your nightmare?" He asks as he softly rubs my back.

"In the dream Asher didn't stop, he kept stalking me, continued to torment me. He was like a ghost, he would appear and attack me and then disappear again before he could get caught." I confess to him. He holds me tighter and kisses my forehead. "Mike I'm scared, when he's touched me…every time he assaulted me, including tonight the look he gets in his eye, he has no limits when he's like that. If he gets near me again…"

He cuts me off, "He won't Clare, I won't let him. Neither will Adam, Owen, Drew, Bianca or Eli now. We'll keep you safe I promise."

I look up, maneuvering slightly to bring my lips to his in a soft chaste kiss this time. "When I'm with you I do feel safe, your arms are the safest place in the world to me. I feel safe with the others too but you can't always be with me Mike, none of you can."

"If he touches you again, or so much as comes near you I will kill him and so will the others." He promises me but he does not refute the fact that they can't always be with me.

I decide a change of subject is in order. "I'm not sure I can get back to sleep could we put on another movie?"

"Of course Princess." He says unwrapping his arms from me to get out of the bed.

We both get up, I sit on the couch and he puts in another movie and sits beside me but then he turns, leaning against the arm of the couch and putting his legs around me. I lean back onto his chest as the movie begins. Determined to forget about Asher for the moment I concentrate on the movie and about half way through I fall asleep. When I wake up late the next morning we are still on the couch, his arms and legs still around me, my head on his chest. The movement of me sitting up awakens him and he smiles at me.

"Good morning Princess."

"Morning." I smile getting off of him and the couch, I stand and stretch. "I'm gonna get some breakfast."

He stands up too and we go up to the kitchen, I make myself a bowl of cereal as does Dallas and we sit down to eat. When we finish we hear the front door being unlocked. I panic and run up the stairs and into Adam's bathroom. I'm not sure why I ran into Adam's bathroom or what I planned to do once I got there as I realize I have no change of clothes. A few minutes later there's a soft knocking at the bathroom door.

"Clare its Adam I have your overnight bag from Alli's." He tells me.

Oh well he's already seen me in nothing but Dallas' dress shirt, I open the door and of course sweet Adam looks only at my eyes.

"How'd you get this?" I ask taking the bag.

"Cece swung us by Alli's to get it before dropping us off here." He tells me.

"We? You mean Eli's here too?" He nods. "Adam do you mind if I shower?"

"Of course not Clare." He smiles, "Hang on I'll get you some fresh towels."

He goes out of my view for a second and then reappears with two clean towels in his hands and gives them to me.

"Thanks Adam."

He gives me his signature smile and turns to go downstairs again, I close and lock the door and turn on the shower.

**(DALLAS)**

We heard the front door being opened and Clare ran up the stairs, I ran down to the basement and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt.

"Dallas, Clare." Adam called.

I went back up the stairs to find Adam and Eli. "Hey." I greeted.

"Hey Dallas where's Clare?" Adam asks

"She ran upstairs." I tell him.

"We got her bag from Alli's I'll take it up to her." Adam says and goes up the stairs.

Now I'm alone with Eli, Clare's ex, first love, best friend and he's giving me a pretty daggered look. "How's the hand?" I ask scratching the back of my head uncomfortably.

"It's just sprained. Adam said you two became an official couple last night." He tells me his jaw is tight and his voice has just a hint of venom.

"Uh yeah we did." I say and wonder if he and I are about to get into it.

"And she spent the night here?" He asks.

I put up my hands; I have no desire to fight with Eli. "Yeah but all we did was sleep, I wouldn't do that not to Clare I really like her and care about her a lot."

"I know, I've watched you with her, your good to her just make sure it stays that way." He warns me.

"I promise Eli I will never hurt her and will always treat her like the Princess she is." I pledge just as Adam comes back down the stairs.

"Clare's taking a shower and I saw that her ring is still on which is good." Adam says half joking and we both glare at him.

Before either of us can say anything the door opens again and Drew, Bianca and Owen come in.

"Hey guys, where's Clare?" Bianca asks.

"Upstairs taking a shower," Adam tells them, "I told Eli about the letter idea he wants to help and we should probably start working on it now while she's in the shower because if she finds out about it she'll try to keep us from doing it."

"Come on we'll write it on my laptop," I say going downstairs and they all follow me.

"I'll type it." Adam says.

I unplug the laptop from my desk and put it on the coffee table, turning it on and we all sit down. Eli tells Adam to look at the Interpreter's website to get the editor's name so we can address the letter properly.

"We have to keep it completely anonymous, if we put in Clare's name or anything that she told us, Asher will think she wrote the letter and come after her." Bianca says.

"How about something like we think it is essential that you look into Asher Shostack's conduct with past female interns. We have reason to believe it was less than professional." Eli suggests.

"That's good, it's simple and to the point and doesn't say anything about Clare." Bianca nods.

Adam types it up and hits print, Drew runs upstairs to get the letter from the printer and an envelope and stamp. Bianca addresses the envelope as she has the nicest writing of all of us and slips it into her purse to drop in the mail later just as Clare comes into the basement, her hair still wet but she's fully dressed.

"Hey, everyone what are you all doing here?" She asks and then scrunches up her face, "If you're going to try and talk me into pressing charges again…"

"We're not," Drew interrupts her, "we just wanted to make sure you were okay."

She relaxes and smiles coming to sit on the couch and Owen moves so she can sit next to me. "I'm fine, I was a little jumpy last night but I'm okay today."

Eli looks at her closely, "No you're not."

"Eli I'm fine really, it wasn't…oh Eli your hand!" She exclaims breaking off her own sentence, leaving the spot next to me, going to him and taking his wrapped hand in hers. I get a quick pang of jealousy but shake it off.

"I'm fine Clare my hand will heal." He assures her and she bites her lip and looks worried.

**(CLARE)**

I held Eli's wounded hand feeling terrible that he had damaged his hand at all over me. "What did your parents say?" I ask.

"I told them I lost my temper; I didn't get into specifics they think it's because I'm bipolar." He tells me and it doesn't make me feel any better.

"Eli…"

"Okay distraction time," Bianca cuts me off and I look at her and catching sight of the look in Dallas' eye I realize I'm still holding Eli's hand and I let it go and go back to sit next to Dallas his arm comes around me instantly. "What do you want to do Clare?" Bianca asks me.

I shrug, "I don't know."

"We could go see a movie, there's that new slasher flick out." Drew suggests and I cringe.

"Clare hate's horror movies." Eli and Adam tell them simultaneously.

The others look at me, "We can go see it but I'll spend the whole time huddled into Mike." I say.

"Sounds good to me." Dallas smiles and I slap his stomach lightly.

"Save it for your next date." Adam says. "We need to keep Clare's mind off of Asher and Eli's too so he doesn't punch anything else." Adam smirked and Eli shot him a look.

"We could go to the beach." Owen suggests.

"It's January and freezing outside I'm not going to the beach." Bianca states.

"If it's all the same to you guys I'd rather not go out right now." I say quietly.

"We have a bajillion board games." Drew says.

"Twister?" Bianca proposes.

"Eli can't play twister with a sprained hand." I point out.

There's about five minutes of arguing about which game to play, Drew refuses to play anything where Eli, Adam and I are on the same team because he swears we can read each other's thoughts sometimes, he's not wrong. We spend the rest of the morning playing board games which with 7 people, 5 of which are guys ends up with a lot of arguing and male competitiveness. At lunch we decide to go to the Dot and I bring my bag so they can drop me at home afterwards. Owen, Drew and Dallas push three tables together and we all sit down. Right as we order my phone rings, it's Alli calling to check in and I tell her I'm feeling better. I'm sitting next to Dallas of course and our fingers are interlaced I release his hand when our food comes so I can eat. After lunch Dallas walks me home by himself and like a gentleman he carries my bag for me.

"I'll call you later Princess." He says before he kisses me on my doorstep.

I say goodbye to him and enter the house, my Mom is in the kitchen and smiles at me when I enter.

"Hi honey, how was the ball? Jake said he had a good time but he thought you left early." Mom says.

"The ball was fun, I left early to be with Mike and we're officially a couple now." I inform her.

"That's nice dear he seems like a perfectly sweet boy, we should have him over for dinner sometime." Mom states.

"I'm sure he'd be happy to come to dinner, just not on Friday's he has his games on Friday's. I'm gonna go upstairs and unpack." I tell her and go up the stairs to my room.

"Where'd you go last night?" Jake asks coming into my room. "Alli and Jenna stayed at the dance until it ended but I didn't see you after the first couple of hours."

"I was with Mike and he is my boyfriend now by the way." I tell him.

"Yeah I figured that was coming. You did spend the night at Alli's though right?" He asks.

I turn to look at him. "Jake that's not of your concern." I tell him and shut my door.

**Update Soon.**


	16. Jealous Guy

**I Do Not Own Degrassi**

**C****h.16 Jealous Guy**

**(CLARE)**

Jake parked the truck and I hopped out giddily and had to keep myself from running into the school. I detested Monday mornings just as much as any teenager but this Monday morning was different, I was looking forward to seeing my boyfriend. I saw the hockey team lingering by the steps but Mike wasn't with them; I pouted just slightly realizing he wasn't there but knew he would be there soon. I smiled as I walked past the team waving to Owen and he smiled back at me with an upward nod of his head; guy speak for hey. I walked to my locker and found Eli already at his; he looked up and smiled at me.

"How's your hand?" I inquired opening my locker.

"It hurts and this wrapping itches like crazy." He said. I closed my locker door a little to look at him, biting my lip and squeezing my eyebrows together just slightly; feeling horribly guilty for being the reason for his injury. He sensed or saw me looking at him and looked away from his locker; he sighed and brushed my check gently with his good hand. "I'm fine Clare my hand will be better in a couple of days." He comforted me.

I was about to reply when I noticed him look past me and I turned to be immediately brought into a kiss. I put my arms around his neck and parted my lips deepening the kiss. I pulled away after a minute feeling many sets of eyes on us.

"Good morning Princess." Dallas smiled at me when we pulled apart.

"Morning." I replied with a large smile.

I turned back around to get my books from my locker and Dallas took them from me and put an arm around me to walk me to class. Adam and Alli were already in class when we arrived; Dallas kissed my cheek in the doorway before walking down the hall. Alli squeals at me as I sit down at my desk.

"Adam told me you two became official at the dance! Why didn't you tell me right away? Some best friend." She says sarcastically lightly hitting my arm.

"Sorry it happened near the end and I wasn't feeling well, I just didn't think to mention it." I say apologetically.

She scrunches her face up a little as Miss Oh begins class. Alli spent most of class asking me questions about Dallas when Miss Oh wasn't paying attention. I ignored most of them and as much as I loved Alli I was glad to get away from her when class was over. I waved goodbye to Alli and Adam and walked to Miss Dawes drama class. Drama class always made me nervous; I hated preforming in front of people or at all.

"Good Morning class." Miss Dawes greeted after the bell rang. "I'll be splitting you into pairs and each pair will be given a scene to perform next week. The scenes are all from Shakespeare original plays or twentieth century modernizations of Shakespeare plays."

Miss Dawes began calling out names and handing each person that went up a packet, I got paired with Liam which was fine with me and he went up to get our packet.

"We got West Side Story." He told me when he came back to my desk so we could see our scene.

"Why do I always get Romeo and Juliet from Miss Dawes?" I grumbled slightly and Liam cocked an eyebrow at me. "Never mind, what's our scene?"

We spent the rest of class reading over the scene and when the bell rang for morning break, we and a few other pairs stayed in the class to practice our scene with actions and all. For our scene that included a kiss between our characters Tony and Maria, but I've kissed Liam twice before so it was fine. All the pairs had found their own spaces to rehearse and Liam and I began, saying as much from memory as we could and looking at the script in our hands when necessary.

"I'm not afraid." Liam says in character.

"They are strict with me. Please." I say insistently in character and then we kiss as the script says.

Suddenly Liam is jerked back and I open my eyes to see Dallas holding Liam by the collar and pinning him to the wall his feet off the floor. Liam looks petrified and like the rest of the people in the room I am frozen.

"What are you doing kissing her!" Dallas demands.

Poor Liam tries to answer but he can't seem to form words and I snap out of my frozen state hopping of the desk I was sitting on and going to them.

"Mike put him down! Let him go!" I demand grabbing his Ice Hounds jacket and pulling at it sharply so he'll let Liam go.

"He was kissing you, his lips were on yours! No one kisses my girlfriend!" Dallas says angrily.

"Mike put him down NOW! We were rehearsing a scene for drama class now let him GO!" I command.

Dallas looks at me, his face softening as he looks around the room at all the other shocked and petrified faces. He looks back at me and I give him an indignant look, my eyebrows and arms raised. He finally puts Liam down and releases him; I grab my backpack and walk quickly from the room.

"CLARE!" Dallas calls after me but I much too angry to acknowledge him or stop walking. Unfortunately for me Dallas has much longer legs than I do and easily catches up to me, taking my waist and gently pushing me to the nearest wall. I hear a few whispers and see many people in the halls looking at us, I try to get away but he's much too strong so I settle for crossing my arms across my chest. A fractious look on my face I refuse to meet his eyes and take a deep interest in the tiles on the floor. "Clare I'm sorry." He apologizes.

"You're sorry?! Mike you petrified poor Liam and embarrassed me!" I tell him angrily through gritted teeth while still looking at the floor. "We've been an official couple for a little over a day and you already think I'm going around kissing other boys?! Some high opinion you have of me!"

He puts his fingers under my chin and forces me to look at him. "Clare I'm sorry Princess but I didn't think you were kissing him I thought he was kissing you and after Asher…"

I cut him off, "Mike every boy is not Asher and that is still no excuse for the way you behaved! You know I have drama before break, you know that's the drama class room, you know Liam is in that class with me! Didn't you think for a second that there was an explanation for why we were barely kissing in a classroom with other people and visible from the hallway?!" I demand.

"No because I wasn't thinking, all I saw was his lips on you." He admits.

I sigh relaxing my face and uncrossing my arms and instead gripping each side of his open jacket. "Jealousy and protectiveness, to a point, is sweet Mike but you didn't have to get so angry as to pin Liam to the wall! He's probably terrified now and I still have a scene to perform with him next week."

He just smiles and smashes his lips to mine and while I'm still angry at him I kiss him back happily. He doesn't pull away until the bell rings signaling the end of break. "I'll talk to Liam and apologize to him." He assures me walking me to Social Studies.

"I doubt very much he'll listen you scared him half to death. But if he refuses to do the scene with me I'm telling Miss Dawes it's your fault." I tell him.

He smiles at me and kisses my cheek before walking down the hall. I go into class and everyone already in the room is staring at me. I go to my desk and sit down and a moment later Alli comes in and sits at her desk.

"Did Dallas really knock out Liam for touching you and then drag you into the hall to kiss you?" Alli asked.

Now I understand why everyone is staring, "Gee the rumor mill has been working overtime today. Liam and I have a scene from West Side Story to learn for drama class and we were rehearsing, in the scene we kiss and I guess Mike was walking by just as we were rehearsing the kiss and he kinda went overboard in the jealousy and protective departments." I tell her.

"Define overboard?" Alli requests.

"He pinned Liam to the wall by his collar. I told Mike to put him down and explained what was going on and he did let him go. I stormed out to the hallway and Mike followed me out and apologized." I explain and then the teacher comes in so there is no more time for questions.

By lunch not only had the rumors not died down but had gotten worse. I'd heard everything from Dallas had the hockey team put Liam in the hospital for even looking at me now that I was his girlfriend; to Liam had raped me behind the school and Dallas had personally beat him so bad he was now brain damaged. I did my best to ignore them but with everyone looking at me and pointing and whispering as I passed it was very hard. I was walking to my locker to put my books away and get my lunch when I was met by Owen and Luke. They came up suddenly on either side of me linking their arms through mine and turning me so that we were walking to the lunch room.

"Ummm what are you two doing?" I question as we begin walking.

"Escorting you to lunch with the team." Owen informs me.

The pointing and whispering increases as we continue down the hall, my arms linked with theirs as I'm being semi forcefully conducted to the lunch room and all I can think is this is not going to help the rumors. We walk into the lunch room and all eyes turn to us and I roll my own eyes, sometimes high school society could be so aggravating. Luke and Owen walk me to the team's table where they normally eat alone without girlfriends, puck bunnies or family and today seems no different as I see no empty chair for me, only two for Owen and Luke. My assumption is proven wrong however when Owen and Luke walk me, or should I say present me to Dallas and sit me in his lap. Before I can do or say anything Dallas kisses me, putting his hand at the back of my head and his arm around my back. This feels more like a show for the school than an actual desire to kiss me and I internally sigh but still I assail my arms around his neck and when he licks at my bottom lip I part my lips for him. It's a good two minutes before we pull apart and he smiles at me and in spite of myself I smile back at him. Everyone in the lunch room seems to be watching us still frozen aside from their whispering but Owen takes care of that rather quickly.

"EVERYONE STOP GAWKING AT THE LOVEBIRDS AND EAT YOUR DAMN LUNCHES!" Owen yells and within seconds the normal sounds of lunch return although I still hear whispering.

"If you're done marking your territory alpha male, can I go get my lunch from my locker?" I query my sardonic tone laced with slight annoyance.

Dallas gives me a look I'm not quite sure of and then commands Jim, one of the second string players, to get in line and purchase me lunch. Jim gets up and gets in line at the counter, now I sigh audibly and roll my eyes.

"What?" Dallas asks.

I glower at him, "What do you mean what?! I can only imagine what the rumors are going to be now! Sending Owen and Luke to collect me, sitting me on your lap and making out with me in the middle of lunch?" I keep my voice low as we already have enough unwanted attention.

"I thought you liked sitting on my lap and making out with me?" He counters.

I sigh but give him a lopsided smile, "I do but I don't like being on display." I inform him just as Jim brings me a tray with my lunch on it.

"You're not on display and if I catch anyone looking at you I'll kill them!" He assures me but he's smiling and I can't be sure if he's serious or not.

"Which is precisely how we got into this mess in the first place because you were ready to kill Liam for kissing me without finding out why he was doing so?" I remind him. "Have you even tried talking to Liam yet?" I ask taking a bite of pizza.

"I tried but he keeps running away from me." He says.

"Gee I can't imagine why. I'll try talking to him at the newspaper staff meeting today." I tell him. "Please just let the rumors die, this is high school the rumors will pass in a few days."

He agrees but I still spend the rest of lunch on his lap with the team as they talk about hockey and game strategy and other things I have no interest in what so ever. At the end of lunch Dallas walks me to my locker to get my books and to science class but refrains from kissing my lips and settles for my forehead before he goes to his own class. Connor and Wesley have science with me and both bombard me questions as soon as Dallas is gone so I explain to them the whole story. When school ends I go to my locker to put away books and soon Eli and Adam are at their lockers.

"So why does the school think you're dating the entire hockey team?" Eli asks and I sigh.

"Ugh Mike had Owen and Luke escort me to lunch with the whole team, but I sat on Mikes lap the whole time." I inform them. "You didn't believe that stupid rumor did you? Or any of the others going around?"

"No I know you I knew they couldn't be true." Eli assures me.

"You believed the ones about Dallas threatening to kill Liam and beat up anyone who touched Clare." Adam says to Eli and he scowls.

"I just said it sounded like something a jock would do. But I did defend you to anyone who was spreading the rumors." Eli tells me.

"Thank you Eli I appreciate it." I smile at him.

"So what did happen with Liam did he really kiss you and get punched out by Dallas?" Adam asks.

"Liam did kiss me but in a rehearsal for drama class, Mike didn't punch him just pinned him to the wall." I tell them and turn around to see Jake ready to start in with a bunch of questions. "Not now Jake I have newspaper staff, I'll explain at home and no I am not dating the whole hockey team just Mike." I tell him and then walk away quickly to the newspaper office as I approach I can hear rampant talking but it ceases instantly upon my entry and everyone looks at me. "Mike did not hurt Liam only scared him, yes I am dating Mike but only him clear?" I say in annoyance as I take my seat.

Everyone nods, a few look like they're going to ask me questions but I shoot them a warning look and no one asks me anything not directly related to the paper. I'm not so sure if they're scared of me or of the hockey team but as long as they were working I didn't care. I did care that Liam never came to the staff meeting, I tried calling him but he didn't answer and so I left an apologetic voicemail. As I was walking home I had the feeling that someone was watching me, maybe it was just that everyone had been staring at me most of the day or maybe it was some residual paranoia from Asher's attack on Saturday night; either way every time I looked around no one was there. Until I passed behind the Dot and was suddenly pulled into a kiss I was more afraid than shocked and I gasped and struggled a little until I saw it was Dallas and relaxed into the kiss. His hair was still slightly damp from showering after practice I notice as I drag my fingernails through it.

"You okay?" He asked when he pulled his lips from mine.

"I'm fine you just surprised me." I tell him.

He smiles and puts an arm around me as we start walking to my house again. "Well last time I kissed you in front of everyone you accused me of putting you on display."

"You did put me on display having your team mates escort me like guards to the lunch room, having me sit in your lap all through lunch and kissing me the way did was your alpha male way of showing dominance and marking your territory." I say with slight irritation.

He stops walking and turns to me, "Are you still angry? I'm sorry okay but I saw Liam kissing you and I wanted to make sure the whole school knew you were mine." He says and when I only give him a miffed look he quickly corrects himself. "My girlfriend, I wanted to be sure everyone knew you were my girlfriend Princess."

He does look remorseful and I soften, "Sweet, misguided but sweet. Did you not think there was a better way?"

"I've seen too many guys attack you or try to, I wasn't taking any chances. Maybe it was a semi chauvinistic alpha male way to assert my dominance but I wanted be sure no guy at that school would even think of trying." He says sincerely his fingers resting gently under my chin and when he's done talking he kisses me lightly.

"I'm pretty sure if any of the guys at school were going to attack me they would have done it by now but I get your reasoning and it's sweet in a way. I'll forgive you if promise never to do it again and make a public apology to Liam tomorrow morning. Alone Mike you can't intimidate him into listening by sending the team to fetch him." I assert.

"As you wish Princess." Is his only reply but he's smiling.

I smile contented and brush my lips to his, "Now are you going to walk me home?"

He laughs a little, puts an arm around my shoulders and we continue on to my house. When we get to my house he gets ready to kiss me goodnight when my front door opens and Jake is in the doorway looking mighty pissed.

"What the hell did you do to my sister?!" Jake demands.

"JAKE!" I scold him angrily.

"I didn't do anything but kiss MY girlfriend!" Dallas says putting his arms around my waist and staring Jake down.

"Mike!" I exclaim and when Jake looks like he's about to continue arguing I silence him with a look. "Enough, Jake inside!" I demand pointing at the doorway. He continues staring at Dallas for a few more seconds before turning and walking inside but he leaves the front door open. I turn to Dallas and give a quick chaste kiss, "You should go home I'll see you tomorrow."

"Fine, see you tomorrow Princess." Dallas says and then turns to walk home and I go inside.

Everyone is of course home and all looking at me when I come through the door. Awesome. It's not like I haven't been stared at enough today.

"Jake is over reacting." I declare sitting down at the table.

"Over reacting? Have you heard the rumors going around school?" He questions with an incredulous look.

"Yes Jake I heard them all and they are just rumors, we're in high school Jake there are new rumors every week! High school girls talk more than the ladies at church and word spreads faster in the halls of high school than a wild fire. I assure you they are all ridiculous rumors." I state as Mom puts dinner on the table and everyone sits down.

When Jake looks like he's about to start arguing again Glen changes the subject and I give him a grateful smile. Jake's not done with me yet however as after dinner he follows me into my room and asks me what really happened, I sigh but tell him.

"And you're not worried that Dallas pinned Liam to the wall for kissing you?" Jake asks.

"Mike isn't going to hurt me Jake or anyone else without good reason. He did get a little over zealous but he had good reason to be, just not with Liam." I tell him but he just cocks an eyebrow at me awaiting further explanation. "Don't freak out okay but when I was at the mall to get your birthday present I was nearly assaulted by two guys behind the mall and the only reason I wasn't was that Mike and Luke stopped them. Then after the game that Friday a drunk man grabbed my wrist and said some lewd things to me and Owen and Mike saw it and got him to let go of my wrist and leav me alone." I enlighten him but I keep out the main reason for Dallas' behavior as I have no desire to tell Jake about Asher.

Jake doesn't exactly look pleased with this new information but he does look like he understands the way Dallas reacted now. "Okay I can understand his jump to anger and I'm not sure I ever want you to leave the house again but still you have to admit he did kinda take it too far."

"Yes I do and I talked to him about it." I assure him.

Jake looks like he has more to say but settles for goodnight and leaves my room.

**(DALLAS)**

By the time I reach the Torres house it's fairly late and they've all eaten but of course Audra has left a plate for me. I put it in the microwave to heat it and Adam comes down the stairs and sits at the table.

"Okay I heard it from Clare now it's your turn spill." Adam demands.

"I saw some other guy with his lips on her and I got a little jealous and overprotective." I tell him taking my plate from the microwave and sitting down at the table.

"A little?" Adam questions with a cocked eyebrows and a dubious look.

"Okay a lot but after Asher, that drunk ass at Little Miss Steaks and those creeps at the mall can you blame me?" I defend. I mean maybe I did go just a little nuts but I still think everything I did was completely valid.

"Yeah given the whole Asher thing I get it but the school doesn't about Asher and…wait what creeps at the mall?" Adam questions.

"_Oops he wasn't supposed to know about that one." _I pause a minute debating whether or not to tell him. "Luke and I saw her in the food court at the mall and these two guys sat down at her table, she got up and left and they followed her out so we followed them out and it's good we did because they had her pinned to the wall and were ready to rape her. We scared them off and gave her a ride home."

For a minute Adam is just staring at me, "Wait she told us she ran into to you guys and you talked a little."

"Yeah I don't think she wanted anyone to know." I tell him.

"Yeah that sounds like Clare." Adam sighs shaking his head. "Just be careful you don't get so overprotective you smother her, that's what led to her break up with Eli." Adam advises me before going upstairs.

**(CLARE)**

Arriving at school Tuesday morning everyone is still staring and pointing and whispering; no that's not right everyone is whispering and pointing but only the girls are staring. All the guys are carefully looking away; in fact they seem afraid to look at me. I see Dave, Connor and Wesley on the steps but only Dave is actually looking at me Connor and Wes are avoiding looking at me just like the rest of the male populous of DeGrassi.

"Hey guys." I greet when I approach them. Connor and Wes still will not look at me but Dave smiles.

"Hey Clare." Dave greets.

"Uh Dave why are you the only guy that will look at me?" I question.

"Because everyone else thinks that if they so much as look at you Dallas and the rest of the hockey team will beat them up." Dave informs me.

"Oh god!" I groan, roll my eyes and walk inside to my locker.

I'm only at my locker a minute when Adam appears at his with a knowing smile and then arms are wrapped around me presenting me with a red rose and lips are on my cheek.

"Good morning Princess." Dallas says next to my ear.

I take the rose, a smile spreading across my own lips and turn in his arms to kiss him properly. "Thanks for the rose but you realize almost every guy is so afraid of getting beat up by you and the team that they won't even look at me."

"Good if they won't look at you they won't try anything either." Dallas declares.

"Mike!" I say slapping his chest.

"The rumors will die down, you said so yourself, relax Princess." He tells me.

"Have you talked to Liam yet?" I question.

"Haven't seen him yet but I will I promise." He says.

"Be nice, Mike we don't need any other rumors." I warn him.

"Best behavior Princess I swear." He promises and then kisses my cheek and walks away.

Adam is getting books from his locker but he's snickering and I grimace at him and then Eli comes to his locker.

"Didn't you break up with me when I got controlling and over protective?" Eli queries as he gets his books out.

"I said I needed space I broke up with you after you manipulated me into seeing you again by crashing your car and deliberately putting your life in danger." I remind him.

He thinks about it a minute, "Good point but I never scared the whole male student body so bad they wouldn't talk to you." He argues.

"Yes but you were only worried about and jealous of Fitz, Mike is worried every guy is going to attack me like Asher." I inform him.

"Yeah and how come you didn't tell us about the guys at the mall?" Adam asks.

"What guys at the mall?" Eli inquires.

I bite my lip and close my locker. "I'm going to class."

**Next update will continue from right here**


	17. I Will Follow You

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Thanks for all the reviews**

**Ch.17 I Will Follow You**

**(CLARE)**

"What guys at the mall Clare?" Eli repeats coming to my side and putting an arm around my waist.

"And why didn't we hear about it when it happened?" Adam inquires coming to my other side with an arm around my shoulders.

"_Great this'll help the rumors now everyone's going to think I'm dating Adam, Eli and the hockey team. Then again the school is pretty used to seeing the three of us together so maybe it isn't more fuel for the rumor mill." _I sigh as we reach Miss Oh's class stopping just before the doorway a few eyes fall upon us but seem uninterested and look away. "It really wasn't that big of a deal." I say trying to pass off the incident.

"Two creeps following you out of the mall and trying to rape you in the alley is a big deal!" Adam counters.

I feel Eli tense dramatically and look at him to see his face red with fury. _"Uh oh here it comes." _I bite me lip and cringe ready for Eli to blow a gasket.

"**WHAT?!" **Eli somehow manages to yell loud enough to echo through the halls through clenched teeth.

Now I feel the whole class looking at us again, I open my eyes to venture a look and Adam has his other hand on Eli's shoulder telling him to calm down. Eli starts taking several deep breaths to regain composure just as Alli walks up.

"What's going on?" Alli questions joining our little huddle.

"Two guys tried to rape you behind the mall? Clare you…" Eli starts now that he's calmer but Alli's eyes go wide in shock and she butts in.

"WHAT?! Oh my god Clare when did…"

Now I cut Alli off, "A few weeks ago when I was at the mall to buy Jake's birthday present. Mike and Luke were there and they stopped the guys and Mike gave me a ride home. That's when we got out inside joke, everyone happy now?"

Eli looks calmer now but nowhere in the neighborhood of happy, then again Adam and Alli don't look all too pleased either. The bell rings and Miss Oh comes out so there's no more time for arguing now.

"You three need to go sit down, Mr. Goldsworthy you need to find your own class." Miss Oh instructs.

I turn and go into the class room and all eyes are on me again and I wonder how much of that conversation was audible in the classroom, we weren't exactly whispering. When class ends I nearly run to drama and then it occurs to me that I don't know if Dallas apologized to Liam yet or if Liam's even here today. I'm the first one in the class room aside from Miss Dawes who smiles at me as I sit down. A few girls walk in together and they're whispering and look over at me all I can do is roll my eyes. Finally Liam comes in and walks to my desk, I smile at him but he looks a little nervous.

"You're very strong and scary boyfriend promised not to kill me as long as I only kiss you for our scene and he apologized, a lot so if you're okay with it then we can stay partners." Liam tells me.

I let out a relieved breath. "Yes." I nod and make a mental note to thank Dallas at morning break.

Liam smiles somewhat nervously and sits at his desk and class begins. Everyone spends class rehearsing their scenes while Miss Dawes goes around to observe and help. Liam and I skip the kiss as he still seems nervous about it so I tell him we can just kiss for the performance and he looks relieved. When the bell rings I go my locker to deposit my books before I go find Dallas but he finds me first as I feel arms come around my waist. I close my locker, spinning in his arms while putting my arms around his neck before bringing my lips to his.

"Thanks for apologizing to Liam." I smile when we pull apart, at least enough to talk and look in each other's eyes.

"Anything for you Princess." He smiles.

"He's going to stay my partner but we'll only kiss for the performance, we don't need to rehearse that part." I tell him and he gives me a relieved smile.

He picks me up and carries me outside and we spend the rest of break together and when he drops me at Social Studies with a passionate kiss at the door most of the rumors seemed to have died down. By lunch I'm only getting a few stares and whispers thank goodness; I go to my locker to put away my books and grab my lunch. As Dallas and the team always eat together and Eli and Adam are at play rehearsal with Dave and Connor I'm headed to the garden to eat with Alli and Jenna. Passing the front windows my heart stops; Asher is walking in he's smiling and talking with Officer Turner. I duck behind the stairs before he notices me just as Principal Simpson walks up to him.

"Mr. Shostack it's an honor to have you here." Principal Simpson says shaking his hand and I gag. "The journalism class is just thrilled to have you as the guest speaker this afternoon."

I watch as Simpson and Asher turn the corner towards the Principal's office. I close my eyes tight fighting the urge to scream. I walk out to the garden and Jenna smiles at me as I sit down on the other side of Alli who is gibbering on about something or other as per usual. I'm not really listening and I've lost my appetite so I'm just sitting there staring and the planter bed as my mind races.

"Clare?" Jake's voice comes into my thoughts and I look up at him, Alli has stopped talking and I can feel her and Jenna looking at me. "You okay?" Jake asks.

"Fine just not that hungry." I smile to reassure them that everything's fine.

Alli and Jenna immediately return to talking but Jake looks at me another minute before walking off. Thank goodness no one takes journalism; I don't want the others to know Asher is here mostly because if Dallas, Eli, Adam, Owen or Bianca find out I'm certain they'll tell the others. They'd probably even call Drew and I'm sure he'd come to the school just as sure as I am that they'd all confront Asher maybe even get physical with him. Don't get me wrong Asher deserves it and I don't care what happens to him but if they confront him at all Asher will bring me up on charges. Not to mention if they do it at school they'll get in major trouble, there would be an investigation done through the school and of course the rumors would start up again. Nope I'm just going to smile and go along like nothing is wrong and hope the others don't know he's here. I don't eat anything at lunch but I do pretend to pay attention to Alli and Jenna. When lunch was nearing its end I excused myself to go to my locker putting in my uneaten lunch and getting out my books, feeling the light brush of a pair of lips on my cheek and arms come around me startles me and I jump.

"What's wrong?" Dallas asked immediately releasing me and stepping back.

I shut my eyes tight internally stilling myself before turning with a smile and placing my arms around his neck. "Sorry I was lost in thought and you startled me." I assure him before I bring my lips to his in a chaste kiss.

"What were you thinking about?" He questions when I pull away from the kiss.

"It's not important." I tell him as the bell rings and I try to pull away to walk to class but he keeps hold of me. "Mike its nothing and I need to get to class."

He keeps me another few seconds and then releases me and I go to class. I do not see Dallas for the rest of the afternoon or any of the others as I have no classes in the afternoon with Adam. After school Dallas and Owen have practice, Eli and Adam have the play; even Bianca has bright sparks and I head to the staff meeting for the school newspaper. As I'm approaching the classroom I hear a familiar nickname and I freeze, catching a gasp in my throat and I feel my chest tighten, shutting my eyes tightly and hoping desperately that he'll vanish but of course he doesn't.

"Newsie." Asher says somehow lacing his voice with such carnal lechery in that one word that it makes me feel dirtier than the rumor that I was dating the entire hockey team. He comes up next me putting a hand on my opposite shoulder and I shudder. He's careful not to stand to close and to anyone else the gesture would seem perfectly innocent. "You have such a lovely school, I really think I should come speak here more often." He says in a slimy yet happy tone.

"I thought you came to speak to the journalism class what are you still doing here?" I demand through clenched teeth as I open my eyes again and shrug off his hand.

"Well Mr. Higgins I found out is also the staff advisor for your school paper so I offered to stick around and speak to the newspaper staff as well. Mr. Higgins thought it was a fabulous idea." He informs me and I suddenly feel ill. "Do you know I had a little extra time this afternoon and I watched you in English class doing your oral," he pauses on the word oral savoring it on his tongue even closing his eyes as he looks like he's having some fantasy, "report on Homer and Euripides works. Do you know Clare what my favorite thing about ancient times was?" He asks, his voice somehow getting more lecherous and he leans down next to my ear. "Sex slaves, they were everywhere. I believe you would make a fabulous sex slave Clare."

I hear footsteps approaching from down the hall and Asher straightens up and walks away.

"Clare?" It's Liam's voice and I'm suddenly aware he's in front of me and I look up at him. "You okay? You look sort of…green."

"I…" my voice shakes terribly from disgust, fear and anxiety and I swallow hard to keep back the tears threatening to break from my eyes and taking a deep breath before I can talk again. "I'm not feeling well, I'm going home." I tell him before I turn and walk quickly down the hall.

"But you'll miss our guest speaker." Liam calls after me.

I ignore him completely picking up speed to run out of the school. Adam and Eli were still there and I could have gone to them but I was so upset they would know something was wrong and then they would lose it. I needed to calm my nerves and there was really only one person I wanted to see at that moment and the arena wasn't too far. I run the whole way, taking a few minutes to catch my breath before I try to go in. Ice Hounds practices are always closed to everyone but the team, the coach and the manager, all the doors except the players entrance are locked. I know that I shouldn't, that I could get in trouble or get Dallas in trouble but I need to see him to have him hold me; only that will make me feel safe. I pull the heavy door open with a loud metallic creak, I've never been in this part of the arena, the hallway is sparsely lit but the lights are bright. I see the locker room and drop my backpack near the doorway and for a few seconds am overwhelmed by the smell coming from the locker room. Continuing down the hall I come to the corridor where the players exit to the ice, the corridor itself is fairly dark but I hear the sounds of practice and begin to make my way out just before the corridor ends the floor turns to ice.

"What are you doing here? You can't be back here!" A very big security guard barks at me as I approach the middle of the of the darkened corridor.

"I…I just need to…" I try but my voice is still shaking a bit and this security guard is very frightening.

"I already told you that can't be back here." He barks again.

"But I'm…"

He cuts me off and looks ready to just throw me out. "I don't care who you are no one is allowed at practices now…" this time he's cut off.

"Let her pass." It's Owen and I breathe a relived sigh.

The security guard turns to look at Owen, "but I'm not supposed to…"

Owen cuts him off again. "Leave her alone, if she wants to come watch practice she's allowed special request from our captain as she is his girlfriend now let her by or I'll have you fired." Owen commands.

The security guard who is at least twice the size of Owen looks quite frightened and I can't help but chuckle a little. He steps aside and I walk quickly to the edge of the ice with a genuine smile on my face for the first time this afternoon.

"Thanks Owen. Did Dallas really request that I be allowed to come to practices?" I query.

Owen smiles, "No but I have a feeling he will after this. What are you doing here? I thought you had newspaper staff?" He asks. Remembering Asher being at school, the fact that he watched me and what he said to me, my face falls and I don't even realize it. "Clare what's wrong?" Owen inquires his voice taking on a worried tone.

He puts out his hand and I take it stepping onto the ice in my flats and nearly falling but Owen catches my arms. There's an instant feeling of safety and comfort even at this touch, not like there is in Dallas' arms but still it takes what will power I have at the moment not to just cling to him.

"I just wanted to see Mike." I say my voice remains steady but has become strained and small.

"YO MILLIGAN YOU GONNA PRACTICE OR WHAT?!" Luke yells from the opposite side of the ice.

"Clare what happened?" Owen asks entirely ignoring Luke.

"Nothing Owen really I just…just didn't see him all afternoon." I lie.

He looks at me another second and I can tell he doesn't believe me; he turns keeping hold of one of my arms so that I don't fall. "DALLAS GET OVER HERE!" He yells louder than Luke did and the entire team looks over to us.

Even from all the way over here I can see the worried look on Dallas' face and he skates over faster than I've ever seen him skate; he slows as he starts to approach us and stops rapidly spraying some ice flakes near me. He takes me from Owen but Owen doesn't skate away, Dallas wraps his arms around me and kisses me softly. It's like an invisible shield comes around me as soon as I'm in his arms. I feel safe, entirely safe and secure and Asher can't get to me now.

"Princess what's wrong? What happened?" He asks as soon as our lips come apart.

"Nothing I just wanted to see you. The security guard almost didn't let me in but Owen made him. I hope I didn't get you two in trouble, I'll just…" I start babbling trying to avoid telling them about Asher.

"It's fine Princess now why'd you really come?" Dallas asks.

I bite my lip and look away. "I should go you two need to get back to practice."

Dallas doesn't let go of me, I see him look up and exchange a look with Owen and then suddenly he picks me up. I make a tiny yelp from surprise and throw my arms around his neck to keep from falling. He starts skating while holding me, and I can hear Owen skating behind him. It feels a little like flying and I'd be enjoying it more if we weren't be watched by three security guards, the coach and an entire hockey team. He comes to a stop and then steps into the bench area setting me down on the player's bench.

"We do need to get back to practice but you'll watch from here." Dallas orders kissing my cheek.

Then he and Owen and skate back to the team, I watch as there seems to be a small argument between Dallas, Owen and the coach but after a couple of minutes they go back to practice. When practice ends Dallas skates back to the player's box and picks me up again and skates with me in his arms back to the darkened corridor where he sets me down. He takes my hand and interlaces our fingers as we walk back to the locker room, where the coach is waiting at the door.

"Clare I'm Coach Jacobs," he says holding his hand out and I shake it, "I understand you and Dallas are dating and he and Owen have petitioned that you be allowed into practices at your discretion. I'm willing to allow this as long as you understand these are closed practices that means no talking about anything?"

"Yes sir." I nod and the coach nods and walks away.

"I need to shower and change, wait for me by the door and I'll give you a ride home." Dallas instructs.

I pick up my backpack and walk to the exit door leaning against the wall to wait for Dallas. After a while Luke exits with some of the other players and they all give me an interesting look as they pass. Campbell smiles at me and waves goodbye as he passes. Owen and a few other players walk up, the others pass on but Owen leans on the wall next to me and finally Dallas joins us putting an arm around me the three of us exit together.

"Now tell us what happened?" Dallas insists when we get to Owen's SUV.

"I told you already." I say looking down at my hands.

Dallas puts his fingers under my chin lifting my eyes to look him in the eyes again. "Princess we saw the look on your face, the one you had after Luke and I scared away the guys at the mall. The one you have after Asher has done something new. Now I'm betting that you didn't see the guys from the mall again so what did Asher do?" Dallas queries.

I bite my lip, I want to tell them but I also know they're going to flip when they find out he was at the school. "He was…at the school today." I say slowly in a quiet voice.

As soon as the words leave my lips their posture stiffens, making them taller and bigger and they both stand in front of me.

"HE WAS WHAT?!" Dallas yells and I'm glad everyone else has left.

"Clare why didn't you tell us? Come get us? When was he at the school?" Owen asks in one breath.

"Because I knew that you two, or Eli and Adam or even Bianca would confront him and then the school would find out and he'd bring charges against me and…" Dallas kisses me softly to get me to stop.

"What was he doing at the school?" Owen asks.

"He got invited to speak for the journalism class. He came at lunch and was greeted by Principal Simpson and I overheard." I tell them.

"Good then he didn't see you." Dallas says putting an arm around me.

"Not then but Mr. Jacobs asked him to stay and talk to the newspaper staff and he caught me walking to the staff room; he told me he was watching me give my report in English and that…" I bite my lip deciding I'd rather not repeat the sex slave bit.

"He was watching you?! At School?! I'm going to kill him! I'm going to find him right now and rip his face off!" Dallas says his features narrowed sharply, his tone full of malice and ire, his grip on me tightens significantly.

"He's dead fucking dead! Watching you at school I'm going to rip his eyes out and feed them to him." Owen adds his features have become hard and narrowed too and his voice filled with venom.

"Guys STOP please." I command and they both let out a breath and relax just slightly. "If you do anything he'll file charges against me and you'll both get in trouble. Just let it go he wasn't at the school to see me."

"Bullshit he wasn't there to see you." Owen states angrily. "He may have been invited by Mr. Jacobs but he never would have come if you didn't go to DeGrassi."

"Fine but just let it go and take me home please." I request.

They look at me a minute and then Dallas nods. "Yeah come on Princess I'll take you home."

"I'm call Drew and Bianca later and tell them." Owen says and I nod.

Dallas and I walk to the Torres minivan but instead of unlocking the door he gently leans me against the car. "Maybe you should stay with me tonight." Dallas offers.

"Mrs. Torres would blow a gasket and my Mom would never allow it." I point out.

"Tell your Mom you're sleeping at Alli's that she had some crisis or other. As for Audra I'm sure between Adam and me we can hide you for a night. I know you'll feel safer and sleep better with me tonight Princess." Dallas insists and I know he's right.

I encircle my arms around his waist, hug him tightly and nod into his chest. "Thanks Mike."

"Come on get in Princess I'll take you to your house to pack a bag." He smiles at me and kisses my forehead before unlocking the doors. We get in and buckle up and he starts driving to my house. "Call Adam and tell him we'll be a few minutes late picking him up. What time does newspaper staff get out?" He asks.

"Don't even think about it Mike, I'll call Adam but no confrontations he didn't even touch me just said some lewd things." I tell him and then pull out my phone and speed dial Adam before Dallas can say anything.

"You couldn't just walk to the auditorium you had to call me from two hallways over?" Adam laughs a little when he picks up his phone.

"Actually I'm not at school I'm with Mike. He just wanted me to tell you we'll be a few minutes late picking you up because we have to swing by my house so I can pack some stuff for the night." I tell him.

"What happened?" Adam questions his voice concerned and anxious now.

"I'll tell you later. Do you mind hiding me from your parents for the night?" I query.

"Not at all. It must be bad; it was Asher again wasn't it? What did that bastard do this time?" Adam asks.

"Later Adam, we're at my house we'll be there in a bit." I tell him and then hang up.

Dallas parks outside my house and I tell him to wait in the car, when I go in My Mom is making dinner.

"Hi honey how was your day?" Mom asks me.

"Fine Mom I'm going to spend the night at Alli's; her me and Jenna are going to study for our Social Studies quiz." I say keeping my voice and tone normal and steady.

She looks up at me and thinks a minute. "Fine dear but be in bed at a descent hour."

"Yes Mom you know how strict Alli's parents are." I nod and run upstairs packing a bag quickly with clothes for tomorrow, my toothbrush etc. I don't pack pajamas as I'd rather sleep in one of Dallas' dress shirts.

I run back down the stairs calling goodbye to my Mom as I leave, I get back in the minivan and we drive to the school in silence. When we arrive Adam and Eli are waiting on the steps for us. I check the time on my phone, it's nearly six, I look at the parking lot and do quick inventory of cars still on the lot Asher's car is not among them.

"So what did that ass hole do this time?" Eli asks as they both walk up to the minivan and Adam gets in.

"Just don't punch anything when I tell you, you already have one bad hand Eli." I request looking at how infuriated they look already without me having said anything.

"Fine I promise not to punch anything now what did he do?" Eli inquires.

"He…he was…"

**(DALLAS)**

"He was at the school today." I tell them when Clare seems hesitant to.

Eli face turns hard and red and I see him clench his one good fist, I worry that he might break his promise to Clare and punch the car. I turn to look at Adam, he's not as red as Eli but he looks about as angry.

"At the school, our school?! Why the hell didn't you say anything Clare? Why didn't you come get us?" Adam demands.

"Because she didn't want all of us to go kick his ass at school." I tell them.

"Because you all would get in trouble and Asher would file harassment charges against me! Anyway he came to speak to the journalism class he didn't come to see me." Clare tries to reason.

"He only came to speak to the class because he knew there would be a chance of seeing you as Owen pointed out." I say.

"Did he touch you?" Eli asks through clenched teeth.

"No just my shoulder before I shrugged his hand off." Clare said and then bit down on her lip.

"He stayed around to talk to the newspaper staff and when he saw her in the hallway he told her he watched her in English class." I inform them.

"That sick pedophile came to our school and was watching her, he came into our territory and was watching her!" Eli says his tone oozing with rage and venom.

"Eli please calm down." Clare pleads.

"She's staying at my place we'll keep her safe Eli." Adam assures him.

"You want a lift home Eli?" I offer.

"No thanks Dallas; I better use the walk to calm myself down. See you guys tomorrow." He says and then he waves and starts walking.

"Go around to the basement door, it'll be unlocked and wait for us we'll be down in a few minutes." I instruct Clare.

She nods, grabs her bag and backpack and gets out of the car. Adam and I get out too but we go to the front door. I don't see the Torres' but can smell dinner on the stove.

"WE'RE HOME!" Adam yells up the stairs.

A minute later Audra comes down the stairs. "Hi boys your home late."

"Sorry it was my fault practice ran long." I tell her.

"We've already eaten but dinners on the stove." She says.

"We're going to eat downstairs while we do homework Mom." Adam tells her.

"That's fine boys just don't make a mess." She says and then disappears up the stairs again.

Adam goes to the cupboard and gets out three plates, we pile ours high but Adam only puts a little on Clare's plate.

"Clare doesn't eat much when she's nervous or worried." He tells me and I nod.

I get my plate and Clare's, Adam grabs three bottles of water and we go down to the basement. Clare is huddled on the couch and barely looks up at us as we come down the stairs, the look on her face placid but something in her eyes makes me think there's something she's not telling us.

"Here Princess eat something." I insist setting the plate in front of her.

She sits up as Adam places a bottle of water by her plate. "Thanks." She says quietly to both of us, Adam smiles at her and I take her hand and kiss it.

We eat in silence and Clare hardly eats half of her food, shoving the plate away after nibbling at it for a while. I sigh and pull her into my lap and she nuzzles into me.

"Princess what aren't you telling us?" I question.

She looks up at me biting her lip. "I told you everything." She claims.

"There's something your leaving out what is it Clare?" I ask in a pleading tone.

"I told you everything, he came into the school and Principal Simpson greeted him and said it was an honor to have him speak to the journalism class. I was hiding behind the stairs he didn't see me. I didn't see him again until I was almost at the newspaper office, he called to me and I froze. He came and put his hand on my shoulder and said he liked our school and he should come speak here more often. I asked what he was still doing there and he said Mr. Higgins invited him to speak to the newspaper staff as well. Then he told me that he watched me make my oral report in English class and then he said something lewd and walked away and I left ran straight to the arena." She recounts.

"What lewd thing did he say?" Adam inquires.

"Something I'm not about to repeat to the two of you or anyone else ever." She declares.

Adam and I exchange a look and she curls back into me. I tighten my grip on her and kiss her cheek.

**Next update will pick up from here and include the Clare and Dallas' sleepover and Asher's boss confronting him about the anonymous letter.**


	18. Behind Blue Eyes

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Thanks for all the reviews**

**Ch.18 Behind Blue Eyes**

**(CLARE)**

When Adam and Dallas finished eating we all started on homework or tried to anyway. I was having trouble getting Asher to leave my head long enough to concentrate and they kept glancing at me worriedly every few seconds.

"You guys don't want to know it will only make you angrier. It was much worse than anything Owen ever said even when he was an ass or Fitz ever said at all. Just let it go okay?" I plead.

"That would be a lot easier to do if you looked like you were letting go of it too." Adam countered.

I bite my lip. "I'm trying he just won't leave my head." I admit.

"We can do our homework during free period tomorrow, I have play stuff with Eli usually but he'll understand. Let's watch a movie or something." Adam offers.

I nod sitting back on the couch, now that we're not doing homework Dallas pulls me into his lap again. We watch a movie and then Adam puts on TV until Audra starts coming down the stairs. I get off Dallas' lap and Adam throws a blanket over me so I curl up and make myself small, Adam leans against me like a pillow and Dallas puts an arm over me. I hear Audra tell the boys it's time to get ready for bed and Adam tells her in a minute. When she goes back upstairs and closes the basement door Adam sits up again and takes the blanket away.

"That was close." Dallas says as I fix my hair.

"I better go up and get ready for bed before she decides to come back down again. I'll see you guys in the morning." Adam says.

"Goodnight Adam and thanks." I say hugging him.

Adam smiles at me and goes upstairs, closing the basement door behind him. Dallas gets up and so do I, he walks to his closet pulling out one of his dress shirts and hands it to me. I grab my bag and go into the washroom to change, pulling off my jeans and shirt and shivering as the cold winter air hits my skin. I brush my teeth and decide I should pick up toiletries just to keep there as this is the third time I've spontaneously spent the night.

"Mmmmhhhhhmmm." Dallas says sucking in a breath through his teeth when I emerge from the washroom. "Have I mentioned how very very sexy you look in my dress shirts?"

I giggle a little and blush, nodding my head a bit. "Yes but it's freezing out here so I'm getting under the covers." I state putting down my bag and going to his bed.

I slip under the covers in time to see him going into the washroom to get ready for bed himself. Dallas emerges a couple minutes later clad only in boxers and I bite my lip. I see him shiver slightly in the cold air as he sprints to the bottom of the stairs to turn out light and the room becomes nearly pitch black. His silhouetted form appearing around the screen a few seconds later. I feel a cool rush of air as he lifts the comforter to get in the bed and the sinking of the mattress as his weight comes down on it. Already I can feel the heat emanating from his body, as soon as he lies down I move over to him. His arms encircle me as I lay my head on his chest draping my arm across his torso; my fingers resting on his chest begin tracing the outline of his muscles.

"Princess tell me what he said to you." Dallas requests after a few moments of silence.

I bite my lip and turn my back to him, although I'm still in his arms. He turns on his side and pulls me to him kissing the back of my neck and taking my hand in his, interlacing our fingers.

"It'll just make you more irate does it matter?" I question hoping not to repeat it.

"Yes it matters, it matters to me. I already hate him; it can't possibly make me that much more enraged." He tries to reason with me but I doubt his claim very much.

I let out a sigh squeezing his hand and pulling his arms around me just a bit more. "My report, the one that he watched me give was on ancient Greek authors. He said that the thing he liked best about ancient Greece was that they had sex slaves and he told me…" I stop swallowing hard as my stomach starts churning having to repeat this to anyone especially my boyfriend. "Told me he thinks I would make a wonderful sex slave." I finish with a cringe.

As soon as the words leave my lips his body becomes stiff with rage, his breathing morphs into angered huffing and deep growling so he begins to sound like a rabid dog. I can feel his heart pounding in his chest against my back, even his body temperature rises a couple of degrees. He begins unintentionally crushing me between his biceps as the rage takes over his mind. I put my hand on his arm gently and it's enough to snap him out of it, his muscles and whole body relax a little, his breathing and heart quieting some but he remains very tense.

"That fucking ass hole he watches you at our school knowing I'm there and Owen and Adam and has the nerve to not only talk to you but basically tell you he wants you as a sex slave!" Dallas growls his voice rising a little with every word.

"I told you it would only infuriate you more and you need to keep your voice down or the Torres' will hear you. Just forget about it and go to sleep please." I implore.

"Forget it?! Clare he…" Dallas starts his voice rising again.

"Mike stop!" I beg quietly, the fact that he's so agitated is only making me more agitated.

He either doesn't hear me or is too mad to pay attention. "I'm going to fucking kill him for talking to you like that! I'm going to go down to the Interpreter office and beat the hell out of him! Rip his vile tongue right out of his mouth and…"

"MIKE!" I snap as loud as I dare and he finally stops. I have tears running down my cheeks now and I wipe them away. "You can't do anything! If you or Owen or Eli or anyone retaliates on my behalf he won't come after you, he'll come after me. If he brings charges against me and there's an investigation even if I'm absolved of any wrong doing it still goes into a police file. That means it comes up in background checks, it could prevent me from getting into the University of my choice or any good University for that matter. It could prevent me from getting hired if I have a workplace harassment suit on my record even if I'm found innocent. I know you and the others want him to pay and so do I but you can't do anything to him. Just be my safe place please, be my shield and make me feel good again." I request turning in his arms to face him, putting my arms around his neck and kissing him softly.

As soon as my lips are on his I feel him relax completely. "I will always be your safe place Princess and I will always do my best to make you feel good." He assures me when we pull apart from the kiss.

I smile feeling calmer myself. "You always do Mike, make me feel good that's why I always want to be around you but especially after seeing Asher." I tell him before crushing our lips together again.

I part my lips and find his tongue with mine, his embrace tightens around me, his hands roaming up underneath the dress shirt and feeling the skin of my back. As he begins tracing gentle lines up and down my spine I start scratching my nails softly against the back of his neck and through his hair. Removing his hands from my back he uses his weight to roll me onto my back, propping himself on his elbows to keep his weight off me and we never break from the kiss. I realize he's lying between my legs, the waistband of his boxers pressing gently against my clit and pelvic bone and sending a pleasurable tingling sensation through my body. I deepen the kiss feeling my resolve to keep my virginity until I'm in love weakening. I really like Dallas and feel infinitely safe and secure with him but do I love him? I don't think so, does he love me? Probably not, we hardly know each other still and while I'm sure I am falling in love I'm not there just yet.

This logical thinking by my brain is quickly getting overtaken by the carnal part of my brain and the carnal wants of my body. I want to feel Dallas, all of Dallas and I want him to feel me, I want his hands everywhere, feeling every inch of my skin. His hands come up under the shirt again grazing their way up my belly and I moan softly into the kiss at the feel of him touching me. Sucking in a breath in anticipation as his fingers continue to crawl along my torso, when they come to rest on my breasts I gasp finally breaking from the kiss, my head tilting back automatically; grasping a breast gingerly in each hand he gently squeezes and I hear a soft moan coming from the back of his throat. Moving his hands just a bit he softly clamps my nipples between two fingers and teases them, commanding them to harden under his touch; I bite my lip as a soft moan rolls off my tongue. His hands come away from my skin suddenly, pulling quickly from the shirt and I give a whimpered gasp at the absence of his touch.

"Tell me to stop and I will." He tells me in a low husky voice as his hands nimbly begin unbuttoning the dress shirt.

I nod while gently rolling my lip between my teeth but I'm not sure he can see me in the darkness of the room. I have never felt so utterly vulnerable to someone else; so entirely at another person's mercy. Unlike when Asher touches or attacks me rather and all I feel is fear and repugnance, in Dallas' strong yet gentle hands, under his loving touch I feel safe and wanted and a yearning to be touched by him. Having undone the last button his hands trace up my curves and push the two sides of the shirt open exposing my chest to him. It's almost pitch black but I still tighten and shrink a little self-consciously, despite the dark his hands easily find my breasts again, as does his mouth find my nipple. Another shockingly new sensation, the feel of his lips encasing my nipple, his tongue gently flicking it; I gasp in blissful shock and jolt up a bit as my fingers at the back of his head clutch into his short hair. Once the initial shock dissipates I crash back into the bed with a rapturous purr.

After a minute of lapping one nipple he moves to the other, the shock isn't as great this time but the pleasure is just as excessive. I feel almost lost; my mind doesn't seem able to form thoughts or words. I wonder if my hands should be doing something other than raking through his hair but my brain simply isn't functioning enough to even be able to send a signal to my hands to move. After a minute his mouth moves from my nipple kissing along my breast and down between them, leaving a trail of open mouth kisses along my belly and down until he reaches the top of my panties. As he does this his hands go up along my arms, forcing them to release his hair and gently pushing them to the mattress. My stomach begins to knot in fear although I'm not entirely sure why but it's enough to still the fire that had been growing in my belly and allow Asher to invade my mind. His sex slave comment to me replaying again and again, while I don't feel anything like a sex slave to Dallas right now fear has eclipsed every other emotion and sensation and my body tenses.

"Mike stop." I cry out in a quietly frightened whisper.

Instantaneously he freezes, lifting his lips from my skin and I don't have to see him to know he's giving me a worried look.

"Are you okay?" He asks in a worried slightly guilty tone. He moves up, releasing my arms and lying next to me, his arm drapes gently over my belly.

"I'm okay, I'm sorry it's just…" my sentence trails off as I bite my lip not sure how to explain. I release my lip when I feel his lips softly pressed against mine in a quick but loving kiss.

"Shhhh don't apologize Princess, I told you to tell me if you wanted to stop didn't I? I'm not going to push you." He tells me in a reassuring tone but now that he's beside me I can feel how turned on he is as his erections is poking at my thigh, I bite my lip feeling a little guilty for making him stop.

"Are you mad?" I ask in a small voice feeling terribly insecure now.

"Clare you were essentially told by Asher today that he wants to make you his sex slave, even without comments like that from depraved pedophiles sex is scary when you're a virgin. I know that." He assures me as he slowly twirls my abstinence ring in his fingers.

"But you got all turned on and…" He cuts me off with a soft kiss again.

"I'll take care of it stop worrying about it please." He insists.

"I'm a bad girlfriend, I get you all worked up and…"

"Clare stop. You're my Princess, not my sex slave I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to or aren't ready to. I'm not mad okay, what we did was amazing, feeling you was incredible for me and I know you liked it because I heard you moaning. I will wait for you to be ready." He tells me before giving me a quick kiss and then sitting up. "I'll be back in a minute don't feel bad please. I'm not mad at all quite the opposite." He says and there's a cold rush of air as he leaves the bed.

Despite what he said I still feel bad and turn on my side hiding my face as I see the washroom light come on. Biting my lip as I button up the shirt once more and trying fruitlessly to silence the insecurities and bad thoughts in my head. It seems like forever before he returns to the bed as thoughts and fears go racing through my mind becoming ever worse. So caught up in my anxiety and terrible thoughts I don't even feel him return until his arms come around me and I gasp.

"It's me Princess it's just me." He says in a calming voice as he pulls my back against his chest and encircles me in his arms as tight as he can without crushing me. "You are mine and Asher will never get you because I won't let him." He whispers in a determined tone.

"I know." I say quietly finding his hand and interlacing our fingers.

He begins gently stroking my arm with his other hand, his warm breath dancing across my hair, his heart beat gently shaking his chest against my back and it isn't long before sleep overtakes me.

…"_On your knees slave." Asher commands in a carnally vile voice a depraved smile on his lips. I obey kneeling on my toga dress on the stone floor. "Suck me before I fuck you slave." He demands holding my chin roughly. I shudder as bile rises in my throat at the thought. He grabs my neck with nearly choking pressure. "Do as I command or you will be punished you are my sex slave, you belong to me. He can't save you now…"_

**(DALLAS)**

I'm woken up by the feeling of Clare thrashing in my arms, my eyes open and my arms tighten around her again but she continues thrashing. She's breathing hard and making whimpering, pleading cries it takes a minute for my sleep disarrayed brain to realize she's having a nightmare.

"Clare." I say in a loud whisper, kissing her shoulder. "Clare wake up it's just a nightmare." My voice a little louder and determined. She stops thrashing with a loud gasp and then begins to sob, her body shaking against my chest. She turns in my arms her hands and forehead coming to rest against my chest and I feel her tears as they hit my skin. "You're okay Princess I have you. You're safe in my arms he's not here." I assure her stroking her back and kissing the top of her head.

"I know." She sniffles as her arms come around my neck and she pulls herself up a bit, hugging herself to me as tightly as she can.

I continue stroking her back and kissing her face lightly for a few minutes until her sobbing stops. "You want to tell me about the nightmare?" I offer now that she's calmer.

"I was his sex slave." She whispers against my neck.

I tighten my arms around her as much as I can without breaking her. "That will never happen Princess, he will never have you."

"I know but he got in my head, the dream was so surreal but so disturbing still. In the dream he said you couldn't save me like he'd stolen me from you or something and even in the dream I was so terrified and repulsed by him." She shudders in my arms from the memories.

"I will always save you and he will never come near you again." I promise her.

Rather than reply she kisses me with crushing force like she's desperately trying to replace the emotions and sensations of the dream with me. More than happy to oblige this silent plea I lick at her bottom lip and she willingly parts them and I slip my tongue in her mouth. After a few minutes she pulls away for need of air and takes a deep breath, her body relaxing I can feel her easement as the dream vanishes from her mind. I caress her back gently until her breathing ghosting across my neck becomes soft and regular and her body in my arms grows heavy with sleep. Knowing she's securely asleep again my eyelids grow heavy and I fall asleep with her in my arms. The alarm wakes us both up the next morning, her blue eyes sparkle at me and she smiles, I capture her lips in a tender kiss before I leave the bed to dress. She does the same and when Adam comes down a few minutes later, we're both dressed and ready for school.

"Hey I told Mom you had an early hockey practice and we'd grab breakfast on the way to school." Adam tells us coming down with his backpack.

"Thanks Adam." Clare smiles.

After Adam yells a goodbye to his parents we get in the minivan and drive to the school after I park and we deposit our backpacks we start walking to the Dot for breakfast. It's pretty early still and the Dot is fairly empty so we sit at a table near the window and order.

"You look like you lost some sleep." Adam comments after studying Clare's face closely for a minute.

Either I'm blinded by love or Adam really knows her that well because she looks just fine to me; if I hadn't been with her when she'd had the nightmare I never would have known she'd had one or lost any sleep.

"I had a nightmare about what Asher said to me yesterday and was so disturbed it took me a while to get back to sleep. Mike calmed me down and comforted me though." She smiles taking my hand and I kiss hers before interlacing our fingers.

"What did Asher say?" Adam queries and Clare freezes.

She bites her lip and averts her eyes before answering her best friend. "Don't yell or punch anything." Clare instructs and Adam nods, Clare leans over the table and takes her voice down to nearly a whisper. "The short version is he told me I'd make a good sex slave."

Adam goes fiery red with fury as his blood boils, his fists clenching on the table. When our food is brought he lets out a long breath and calms a bit, enough to eat at least. We finish eating and walk back to DeGrassi I walk them to their lockers where Eli greets us and leave Clare with a gentle kiss to go to my locker.

"How's our girl?" Bianca asks as I open my locker.

I look over to see her and Owen as I retrieve my backpack from my locker. "She had a nightmare but she seems okay. You know how she told us Asher said something lewd to her?" I ask and they nod, I look around and pull them closer as I don't want anyone else to hear this. "He basically told her he wants her as a sex slave." I inform them.

Owen like Adam turns red with rage and punches the nearest locker, his hand looks a little red when he pulls it away but otherwise unharmed, Luke's locker on the other hand now has a small dent in it. Bianca's eyes have a vengeful fire in them but she doesn't hit anything.

"That fucking bastard!" She seethes through gritted teeth.

"Screw school I say we go beat the tar out of him. First he has the gall to watch her at school and he says something like that to her. He needs to die!" Owen growls angrily.

"I agree with you but we can't." I tell them.

"Why not? She's your girlfriend you don't want to kill him after that?" Owen questions.

"Yes I want to kill him, of course I do but if we go after him he won't come after us he'll come after Clare. Maybe our letter will work and they'll dig something up as they investigate either way my only concern is keeping her safe and that ass hole away from her." I assert.

"Hey guys what's going on? What happened to my locker?" Luke asks joining us.

"I'm going to call Drew he has to hear this." Bianca says, turning to walk away.

"Hey make sure Drew doesn't go kill him." I call after her and she waves at me to say she knows.

Luke looks at us confused and looks back at his dented locker, Owen and I quickly walk down the hall.

**(CLARE)**

Dallas gives me a soft kiss and leaves me and Adam at our lockers with Eli.

"Tell him." Adam demands as soon as Dallas is down the hall.

"Tell me what?" Eli asks.

I sigh and take Eli's hands in mine, his right one still a bit bruised and red but no longer with the wrapping on it. "Asher, the lewd thing he said to me yesterday was that he thinks I would make a good sex slave." I inform Eli quietly.

I'm gripping his hands pretty tightly but I can still feel them trying to ball into fists. His body tenses and his face goes red as his jaw clenches and his eyes narrow.

"THAT FUCKING…" Eli begins to yell and the entire hallway looks at us.

"Eli calm down." I snap at him to cut him off.

"CALM DOWN?! CLARE THAT ASS…" He yells again and we're attracting more attention from other hallways now.

Instead of insisting he calm down this time I lean up and kiss his cheek, a technique I admit I picked up while we were dating but it works. He lets out a breath, some of the red washes from his face and his fists unclench.

"I don't want you getting detention or breaking your other hand." I reason with him, he looks at me and his posture relaxes a bit and I finally let go of his hands.

"Can we just go murder him then?" Adam asks.

"No Adam because if you do anything, any of you Asher will come after me, I don't like it either and it isn't fair but you both need to forget about it." I insist.

"We won't go kill him for now but I can't forget he told you that Clare." Eli tells me.

Now that Adam and I have our backpacks we start walking to Miss Oh's homeroom. The boys are on either side of me, Eli with his arm around my waist and Adam has his around my shoulders and I have my arms around each of their waists.

"We could make it look like an accident." Adam suggests. "Cut his brake line."

"Gas leak at his house." Says Eli.

"Hit and run." Adam offers.

"Does he hunt? There are hundreds of hunting accidents every year." Eli proposes as we reach the doorway of our class.

"I'm both flattered and petrified that you two are devising ways to maim and murder on my behalf but stop. No doing anything, accidental or otherwise got it? Come on Adam." I take Adam by the hand and pull him into class and we wave to Eli.

At morning break I stayed in the drama classroom to rehearse our scene with Liam, sans kissing of course, Liam was in the middle of a line when he suddenly stopped his face becoming confused and a very scared.

"Uh why is Adam's brother staring at us and why does he look so angry?" Liam asks apprehensively.

I turn around and do indeed see Drew standing there with his arms crossed across his chest and a hateful enraged look on his face. He does look very menacing and I can't blame Liam for being so scared.

"Don't worry it has nothing to do with you." I assure Liam. "I think we're done though." I say grabbing my backpack and going out to greet Drew. "Hey Drew." I try to smile brightly but he's having none of it.

He takes my arm and starts dragging me towards the entrance. "He was at your school and you didn't tell us right away?" He exclaims in grumbling voice.

"I assume Bianca told you everything? How exactly did you get in the school?" I inquire.

"Officer Turner let me in." He shrugs.

I see a bunch of people looking at us curiously as Drew drags me by the arm out of the school, passing the hockey team on the front steps earning us a few more looks as well as Owen and Dallas falling in step with us. When we're out at the parking lot Bianca joins us as we finally stop.

"Sex slave! He actually told you he wanted you as his sex slave! Remind me why we can't just beat his ass?!" Drew demands.

"Because he'll come after me that's why." I tell a still very angry Drew.

Bianca, Owen and Dallas don't look much better; I bite my lip and wrap myself in Dallas' arms to feel safe.

"What if we just beat him so bad he loses his memory then he won't know who to come after?" Owen suggests.

"No Owen, now you sound like Adam and Eli everyone just forget it okay?" I request.

"NOT HAPPENING!" The four of the say together in the same determined and angry tone.

**(ASHER)**

"You wanted to see me Linda?" I inquire opening her office door.

"Yes Asher come in and close the door please." She instructs so I do. "This came in the mail this morning." She tells me handing me a letter, it consists of only two sentences but its message is clear.

I adopt a shocked and wounded expression. "I don't understand I have never been anything but a consummate professional with all my interns. I can't believe anyone would make such allegations. All of my interns have been excited to work with me and they all left with glowing letters of recommendation from me I can't believe anyone of them would do this."

"Nor can I and we've never received any complaints before. More likely it's from an intern prospect that got turned down and is looking for some kind of retribution. Still I'm going to have to turn this over to HR and they will have to do an investigation. Shouldn't take long though as you said all your interns loved you, so I wouldn't worry about it Asher." Linda assures me.

"Oh I'm not worried Linda there's nothing for them to find, just hurt that someone would attack me this way." I tell her expressing as much pain in my voice as possible.

"I'm sure this matter will be wrapped up quickly, that's all Asher thank you." She dismisses me from her office and I keep the wounded look on my face until she can no longer see me.

"_No one will talk I'm sure of it because I always guarantee it. Now then who would dare to write a letter, certainly not Clare but her obnoxious boyfriend and her other friends maybe. I better remind her what will happen if she talks."_

**Update Soon**


	19. Nearly Beloved

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch. 19 Nearly Beloved**

**(CLARE)**

The last bell of the day rang and Eli, Adam and myself went to our lockers; waiting for us was Dallas, Owen and Bianca.

"You want to come watch practice?" Dallas asks me after we share a quick kiss.

"Thanks but I have to go to the mall to get new church shoes, I was supposed to get them yesterday after newspaper staff but well with Asher and all I completely forgot." I tell them opening my locker but just as I get the door open I'm spun around to face Dallas.

"The mall? By yourself?" He asks as with a dubious and reluctant look on his face. You'd think I'd said I was hitchhiking across the country by myself.

"He's right Clare, we have play and Bianca has bright sparks I know Jenna and Becky are hanging out and Dave and Alli are studying." Adam states.

"I have the mace on my keys and I'm sure Drew is working right?" I ask Bianca and Adam.

"Yeah he's closing tonight." Bianca says.

"Okay on the off chance that I see those guys again I will go straight to Drew, I promise. You all trust Drew to keep me safe right?" I state more than question really.

"Yes." Adam, Bianca and Owen say simultaneously.

"Eh." Eli says twisting one side of his face and tilting his flat palm back and forth to say he's not too sure and Adam punches his arm lightly.

"Drew will keep her safe." Adam assures him in a defensive tone on behalf of his brother.

"I trust that Drew will keep you safe but you have to get to him and how are you getting to the mall?" Dallas asks.

"The bus it will drop me right out front, I'll call you when I get there and home and I'll avoid the shipping alley's behind the mall." I insist. Dallas still looks unsure so I reach up and kiss him softly. "I'll be okay Mike, I have the mace and Drew will be there."

He heaves an averse sigh. "Okay but call when you're there and home and if anything happens." He instructs.

"Promise." I say doing my best not to roll my eyes I mean I do understand where this is coming from but it doesn't make it any less obnoxious.

He kisses me again a little harder, longer and more passionately this time; I hug Adam and Eli goodbye and wave to Bianca and Owen before going out to catch the bus. The bus ride takes almost forty five minutes with all the stops and I'm able to get all my math homework done and start on my social studies homework. The bus stops at the mall and I get out, you have to cross the street and walk through the outdoor terminal type thing for the buses, to get to the mall entrance. I have to admit now that I'm at the mall I'm a bit nervous and I do a quick look around but I don't see those guys and I shake it off.

As I walk across the terminal I call Dallas and leave a voicemail that I'm at the mall. The neon lights of the mall cause me to squint for a second even coming in from outside. As I typically avoid the mall I have to look at the directory to find the shoe stores. Spotting a washroom on my way to the first store I turn into the hallway and am about to enter the ladies washroom when my arm is grabbed roughly and I'm pulled into the washroom for mothers with small children, it's large and private and the door locks. As I'm pushed to the wall somewhat gently actually, I get the mace out of my purse and ready it behind my back. The light comes on and I'm face to face with Asher! Instantly I become terrified and angry all at once.

"What the hell do you want?!" I demand doing my best not to show my fear.

I still have the mace ready behind my back but he has my arms pinned to the wall by my elbows so I can't reach very far. The fact that he has us locked in a small private room that's more or less sound proof has me very apprehensive and alarmed.

"Such language Newsie, I just wanted to remind you what would happen if you talked." He tells me.

"I haven't and I won't I told you, now let me go or I'll spray you with mace." I threaten and hope that he can't see the fear in my eyes.

He seems to ignore my comment or be completely unfazed by it as he inhales deeply along my neck and then kisses my jaw. "You smell so delightful, like vanilla and lavender and…" he pauses sucking a breath in through his teeth, "innocence." He smiles noxiously as he says innocence and I can feel my lunch starting to rise in my stomach as it knots.

"Get off of me, I won't talk but…" I am sickeningly cut off by a hard forced kiss.

Afraid that if I spray him now I'll spray myself I try to push him away, when I can't get leverage with my arm I use my legs and he breaks from the kiss but I'm still pinned.

"I can't wait to fuck the virginal innocence out of you." He smiles in a low husky nauseating voice. Now that his face isn't on mine I reach up as much as I can and spray the mace, I can't reach too far and it only gets him a little but it's enough. "Agh! Bitch you'll regret that!" He warns as he covers his eyes and goes to the sink presumably to rinse his face but I don't stick around to find out.

I unlock and open the door and run out, slowing down only when the food court and Drew's kiosk comes into view. Drew is with a customer so I do my best to compose myself and walk over calmly, given the look I get from him as I lean on the counter I'm not entirely sure how well I succeeded. I wait patiently while he finishes with the customer, which does give me more time to compose myself, as soon as the customer walks away Drew takes my hand and pulls me around behind the counter, dropping my backpack to the floor.

"You okay?" He questions studying my face closely.

"Yeah I'm fine." I nod but he obviously doesn't believe me as he raises his eyebrows in a questioning manner. "It's nothing really I just promised Mike I'd come straight here if anything happened but I'm fine and you're working so…" I start babbling but he cuts me off.

"Clare what happened?" He inquires.

I bite my lip, feeling much safer with Drew but Asher's comments and threats are echoing through my mind. "I umm saw Asher, he's here…" I barely get out Asher's name when Drew's face turns hard, he straightens up, lets go of my hand and starts walking out of the kiosk, this time I grab his arm. "Where are you going?" I ask although I'm certain I already know the answer.

"To kill him!" Drew says with a clenched jaw.

"Drew we had this conversation this morning, you can't kill him. You'll get arrested for aggravated assault and he'll come after me!" I remind Drew pulling him back behind the counter.

_"Bitch you'll regret that!" _Asher's last threat to me before I ran out the door runs through my head and I swallow hard and look down as I feel tears at the corners of my eyes.

Drew relaxes just a bit as he puts his thumb and index finger on either side of my chin and gently lifts my face to look at him again. "Did he touch you?" He asks his eyes are kind and concerned but his jaw is still clenched as he asks the question.

"N...no." I lie trying to make my face neutral and placid.

"So that's a yes then, where is he?" He demands as he moves to leave the kiosk again.

"Drew it's fine, I'm fine you can't…" I start grabbing his arm and turning him to me again, he faces me putting his hands on my waist and pushing me against the counter, leaning over me just a bit as he interrupts my protesting.

"It's fine?! Yesterday he tells you he wants you to be his sex slave and today he attacks you in the mall! What part of that is fine?" He asks in a low angry whisper, his face just a few inches from mine.

"Whoa does you're smokin' hot girlfriend know about you're smokin' hot mistress?" Asks a stocky guy with red hair and glasses as he comes behind the counter, given that he's wearing the same shirt as Drew he must be Drew's boss or co-worker. Drew straightens up but doesn't let go of my waist.

"Just friends, we're just friends. I have a boyfriend and I know Drew's smokin' hot girlfriend she's also a friend." I explain quickly.

"Max Clare, Clare Max." Drew introduces us. "She's having trouble with a stalker." Drew tells him.

"He's not a stalker he…" I try but Drew cuts me off again.

"Uh he came to the dance to find you, he came to the school yesterday and he found you at the mall; I call that stalking." Drew argues.

"Okay fine he's a stalker either way you have to work can I go now?" I request.

Drew looks at his watch and back at me with his eyebrows turned down and his nose crinkled just slightly; it's a look that clearly says I'm crazy for asking such a thing. "The others all have afterschool things you're staying here until they come for you. Sit." He instructs pointing to the retainer wall for the planter at the back of the kiosk.

"I can just call Jake and have him pick me up. You have to get back to work." I insist.

"Does Jake know about Asher?" Drew asks.

"Well no but…"

"Sit." He instructs again in a sterner tone. He's not letting go of my waist, and the look on his face tells me it's no use in arguing. I look at Max and he just shrugs so I sigh, Drew finally lets me go and I sit on the retainer wall and Drew pats my head like I'm a puppy. "Call or text the others so they know to come here when they're done with their things." Drew tells me.

I pull out my phone but I'm dreading seeing them all as I'm sure that Dallas, Eli and probably even Adam will never let me go anywhere alone again. I call Dallas first and make a mental note to put him on speed dial, as he's at practice I get his voicemail.

"Hey it's me umm everything's fine but could you and Owen come to the mall when you're done at practice? I'll be at Drew's kiosk as he won't let me leave until you all come to collect me but everything's fine, see you in a bit." I babble into the voicemail realizing I didn't sound like everything was fine.

Next I call Adam and get voicemail again. "Hey can you two come to the mall when you're done? Meet us at Drew's kiosk; Bianca can probably give you a ride. I'm fine just…well meet us when you're done."

Finally I call Bianca but this time someone answers except it's not Bianca. "Hey Clare." Connor says into the phone.

I pull the phone from my ear to make sure I clicked Bianca's name and it does say Bianca. "Connor why are you answering Bianca's phone?"

"She's in the washroom, oh wait here she is. Bianca it's Clare." Connor says and I hear the phone getting handed over. "Clare what's wrong?"

"Can you grab Eli and Adam when you're done and meet the rest of us at Drew's kiosk?" I request.

"What happened?" She asks in a hard edged tone.

"I'll explain when you all get here." I tell her.

"See you in a bit; I'll give Adam and Eli a ride over." She assures me and then hangs up.

I put my phone away and lean back to get comfortable as I have probably an hour until the others get here. Max and Drew are both with customers and I'm absentmindedly people watching as I try really hard to forget what Asher said. While Drew and Max are still helping customers three teenage guys walk up.

"Hey how much for the babe with the big breasts?" One of the guys remarks nodding at me.

Drew stops paying attention to his customer and looks like he's about to bound over the counter and kill these boys in place of Asher. I leap up and grab his arm firmly pulling him back.

"Drew killing potential customers is bad for business, just ignore them." I tell him.

"If you guys aren't buying anything get out of here." Max tells them.

Drew calms a bit but the customers they were helping are now giving us odd looks. "Sit Clare." Drew commands again, pointing behind him.

"When did I become a puppy?" I ask sardonically under my breath as I sit again. Drew scowls at me but turns his attention back to the lady he was helping.

"So with really hot girls like you're girlfriend and your friend here, why did you drop out of school?" Max asks Drew when they are both done with their customers.

"Yeah why did you drop out?" I question.

"Because I'm dumb." Drew shrugs.

"Andrew Torres you are not dumb!" I scold.

"I'm good at sports not so good at school and after the concussions school just gave me a headache." He sighs.

I scowl at him getting ready to lecture him about the fact that he wouldn't have had concussions if he hadn't started amateur MMA fighting, but another customer walks up so I close my mouth again and look at my watch, counting the minutes till the others get here as I'm getting very bored. I hear them coming long before I see them; Dallas and Owen have deep sort of booming voices. I stand up and exit the kiosk and Drew follows me, we stand to the side of the counter so we're not in the way of customers. Dallas reaches me first, embracing me and crashing our lips together.

"Are you okay?" He asks when we break from the kiss.

"I'm fine, I came straight to Drew just like I promised and he kept me safe. And so did Max," I add pointing to Max and he smiles, "although he thought I was Drew's mistress when we first saw us."

Bianca pulls me from Dallas and puts her arm around my waist. "Sorry Max Clare is my mistress." Bianca smiles and then kisses my temple and I feel myself blush a little.

All the guys freeze, Max included and they all have the same deer in the headlights look on their faces and the same pleased smile on their lips. They all seem to be watching some mental image in their heads.

"I think you broke them." I say to Bianca and she's laughing a little.

"Come on I'm starving let's get something to eat and you can tell us what happened." Bianca says but none of the guys move. "Drew can you take your lunch now?" They still seem to be lost in their heads so Bianca smacks Drew really hard on the stomach. "Stop picturing me and Clare together. Can you take your lunch?"

"Sorry what? Oh uh yeah, hey Max I'm taking my lunch." Drew says to Max and it looks like all the male brains have snapped back to reality.

Max nods and Bianca and I grab a table while the guys go get food for everyone. Dallas and Drew return to the table first with food for them and me and Bianca. Eli, Adam and Owen join us a few minutes later.

"Okay spill what happened?" Adam asks.

I open my mouth to talk but Drew beats me to it. "Asher was here and he touched her again." He informs them before taking a giant bite of his burger.

Everyone else stops eating and looks at me. "I'm okay, it wasn't that bad." I say slowly in a small voice, I know I'm lying and so do they.

"How…what exactly happened? Everything Clare." Dallas demands in a stern tone I'm sitting between him and Eli and they are both extremely rigid, their posture tensed dramatically. Drew already knew Asher was here so he's the most relaxed of the group as he's still eating but even he looks fairly tense and angry.

"I got here just fine but when I went to the washroom he…he pulled me into the family washroom and locked the door. He pushed me to the wall and turned on the light, he had me pinned by the arms. He told me not to talk and I told him I wouldn't and I haven't. He kissed my jaw and then me." I stop to wipe my mouth as even the memory brings back the feel of him. Dallas relaxes enough to cup my chin and kiss me passionately to erase Asher completely, he holds the kiss long enough for the others to begin eating again and then he breaks from the kiss and his arm comes around my waist, I smile at him and continue. "He said he…umm…couldn't wait to…" my sentence trails off as I bite my lip, I really don't want to repeat his comment.

Bianca leans over the table and I whisper it into her ear. "That fucking bastard pedophile forget killing him I'm going to castrate him!" Bianca exclaims sitting down again, her face crimson with fury.

Knowing she's about to tell them what Asher said I hide myself in Dallas and he tightens his embrace around me. Bianca repeats Asher's comment about fucking the virginal innocence out of me and I feel both Dallas and Eli tense even more and I don't need to see the others to know they are just as tense. For a moment there is only a very incensed hard silence and then a few of the boys, I'm not entirely sure which ones, begin to growl.

"He's dead fucking dead!" Dallas is the first to speak and he talks so loudly I pick my head up from his chest.

"Mike keep it down the whole mall can hear you." I command in a low voice.

He looks over at me, his face hard, his eyes narrowed into tiny slits but I can see the fire in them; when his eyes settle upon mine he softens. His posture remains stiff and hard but his eyes become gentle and his face sweet again and I kiss his cheek.

"It was scary and very unpleasant but I'm not harmed and I did spray him with the mace. Of course he told me I'd regret that but he wouldn't let go of me until I did and I ran straight to Drew just as I promised I would." I tell them.

They all smile a little when I tell them about the mace, Dallas' hand finds mine and interlaces our fingers.

"I still vote for killing him cloak and dagger style." Adam says as they resume eating again. "We could poison his coffee every morning." He suggests I roll my eyes and go back to eating.

"Poison is to slow." Eli says.

"Plus you'd have to have access to his coffee every morning." Bianca points out.

"No one is going to kill Asher outright or otherwise, I don't want any of you getting arrested because of me." I command.

"Clare he…" Dallas starts but I cut him off.

"Mike I'm not discussing this again. I told you how I feel about it, if you guys go after him then he'll come after me. He's a terrible vile person and I hate him but he could ruin my life if he brings charges against me. Karma will catch up with him all I want you guys to do is be my friends and keep me safe, clear?" I question.

"Clear." They all chorus albeit somewhat reluctantly.

We go back to eating but there's still a lot of angry talk about Asher. When we finish eating the group goes their separate ways, Drew and Bianca go off for some time alone together, Owen leaves to go home offering Eli a ride and he takes it. I retrieve my backpack from behind the kiosk and walk out with Dallas and Adam.

"You want to spend the night again?" Dallas asks as we walk to the car. "You know you'll sleep better."

"Very much but my Mom already thinks I was at Alli's last night she won't let me sleep over anywhere two school nights in a row. Besides I doubt you two want to hide me from the Torres parents a second night." I say to Adam and Dallas.

"I don't mind hiding you." Adam says and I smile at him.

"Still my Mom won't let me out for a second night." I complain as I get in the car. "If I can't sleep I will call you, promise." I assure Dallas and he smiles as he begins driving to my house.

When we arrive at my house I say goodnight to Adam and Dallas gets out and walks me to the door. We share a long passionate kiss on my doorstep before saying goodnight and I wave to them again before going inside.

**(DALLAS)**

I finish my homework and look at the clock, it was just after eleven. I'm certain that Clare is still awake and I grab my phone and call her.

"Hi." Her soft silken voice smiles into the phone.

"Hi Princess. I wanted to check on you and see how you were." I say smiling at the sound of her voice.

"I'm fine really; I was just getting ready for bed." She says slowly but I hear the disquiet in her voice.

"You're not okay, spend the night Princess, we'll sneak you out. I know you'll feel better so will I and Adam." I persuade her.

She's quiet for a few seconds. "Just a sec." She says into the phone and I hear the sounds of her walking out of her room and she knocks softly on a door, she's moved the phone from her mouth but I can hear her well and a deep male voice I recognize as her stepbrother Jake. "Hey I'm leaving a note for my Mom that I left early to meet Eli and Adam, in case she asks where I am in the morning." Clare says to him.

"Where exactly do you plan on going at 11:15 on a school night?" Jake asks.

"Adam's." She replies.

"You mean you're going to see Dallas." Jake says.

"If you want to get technical." She retorts. "He's coming to pick me up."

"Fine." Jake agrees.

"I'll start packing and meet you outside in ten." She says to me and hangs up the phone.

I slip my phone into my pocket and go upstairs quietly, Adam's bedroom light is still on and he has music playing quietly. I knock softly and he opens his door, seeing that it's me he moves back to let me in and closes his bedroom door again.

"I'm going to pick up Clare and bring her here for the night." I tell him.

"Good. My parents are asleep but if they notice you're gone I'll cover for you." He says.

I thank him and leave his room quietly; going back to the basement I lock the internal basement door and leave through the back sliding door. I pull up to Clare's and a second later she comes through the front door and locks it before getting into the car. I cradle her face in my hand and capture her lips in a kiss.

"If my Mom wouldn't throw a conniption fit and die of a heart attack, and if Audra wouldn't do the same I would just move in. I prefer sleeping in your arms to anything else." She tells me as I start driving back home.

I smile and take her hand kissing it before I interlace our fingers. "I'm happy to sneak you over any time Princess. You don't have to be attacked to sleep over you know. I'm pretty sure Adam doesn't mind having you over anytime either even if it does mean hiding you."

We make the short drive in silence, parking the car just where it was I take her around to the back door and escort her in, locking it behind us. She goes straight to my closet and pulls out one of my dress shirts before going into the washroom to get ready for bed. She emerges a few minutes later and I take a few moments to appreciate the sight of her.

"You're staring." She blushes.

"Sorry but you look incredibly sexy and anyway I should be allowed to stare at my stunningly gorgeous and incredibly sexy girlfriend any time I want." I comment.

She smiles, drops her bag on the floor, comes to me wraps her arms around my neck and takes my lips with hers. I lift her by the waist to put her higher than me and she giggles a bit but crashes her lips to mine again. I walk her to the bed and lay her down gently, I break from the kiss and drink in the sight of her before I go to the washroom to get ready for bed myself. It only takes me a couple of minutes as getting ready for bed consists of me stripping to my boxers and brushing my teeth. I come out of the washroom and she smiles at me and bites her lip. I turn off the light and join her in the bed and she cuddles up to me under the covers, her head on my chest and her arm draped lightly across my torso. I put my arm around her and she begins to draw small circles on my chest with her finger, her touch so soft it tickles and I quiver a bit.

"You realize of course you are never allowed to go to the mall by yourself again." I tell her with a yawn; never ending passionate rage for the asshole that attacks your girlfriend, a full day of school and two full hours of hockey practice will make a guy very tired.

"Mike." She admonishes in an annoyed tone. "I'm not completely helpless; I did spray him with the mace."

"I'm not kidding Princess, Drew may be there working but you still need to go with at least one of us." I mandate.

"Mike your being ri…" She begins but I cut her off with a kiss.

"Asher has begun stalking you, you were nearly raped at the mall I don't think I'm being ridiculous at all. I don't know how far Asher will go especially after the things he's said to you the last couple of days. I think I'm being quite reasonable, I could insist the whole hockey team guard you wherever you go; I am captain if I tell them to they will." I persist.

"Mike that's just silly and I'm sure the rest of the hockey team has better things to do than escort me everywhere. I don't like the mall anyway and do my best to avoid it, but fine next time I have to go to the mall I'll wait until someone else can come with me. Happy now?" She asks with a fairly sarcastic tone.

"I just want you to be safe Princess." I say.

She sighs moving so that she's propped up on her elbow and looking down at me; it's very dark but I can make out her silhouette and feel her hair tickling my arm.

"I know Mike and I appreciate it and love how much you care about me." She says before leaning down to kiss me softly.

She yawns and lays back down and I wrap my arms around her, she kisses my chest feather soft and I stroke her back gently. It doesn't take long for her to fall asleep, her soft warm breaths fly across my chest, her gentle heart beat against my side, the feel of her in my arms is all very soothing and as exhausted as I am I can't sleep. I am consumed by a fiery burning hate for Asher, my mind taken over by how very much I want to kill him. For touching her, threatening her, ever even thinking of doing harm to her. I'm so lost in hateful murderous thoughts I don't realize how I'm tensing and without meaning to squeezing Clare; until she wakes up and moves.

"Mike what's wrong?" She asks in a sleep strained voice.

I relax and exhale deeply stroking her hair from her face. "Nothing Princess, go back to sleep." I try and assure her.

She moves propping herself on her elbow again and cupping my face with her other hand. "Something's wrong, you were squeezing me, your whole body was stiff."

"I'm sorry Princess I didn't mean to hurt you or wake you." I apologize.

"You didn't hurt me Mike and I never mind waking up in your arms no matter the circumstances. Now please tell me what was bothering you?" She requests.

I put my hand at the back of her head and bring her down for another kiss. "Just distracted by my hate for Asher, thinking of all the things I'd like to do to him." I finally tell her when our lips part several minutes later.

She sighs, lies down again and rolls over putting her back to me. "Mike I'm okay, shaken but unharmed. I hate him too but you can't let that hate consume you, it won't do you any good. He can't keep this up forever and I'll do whatever I can to avoid him, Toronto is a big city." She turns over again placing her head on my shoulder and draping her arm over my chest once more, I wrap her in my arms as much as I can without crushing her. "I'm happily in your arms and Asher has fallen to the back of my mind. Please just be happy that I'm in your arms, in your bed and relax and go to sleep." She pleads.

"Princess I'm always happy to have you in my arms. Go back to sleep I'll be fine." I insist.

"If you're up all night aggravated over you're hate of Asher I won't be able to sleep." She says in a soft voice as her fingers trail down my chest.

"Sorry Princess I'll try and think of something else and get to sleep for your sake." I tell her.

"Maybe," she says in flirty whisper, "you need a distraction." She whispers softly as her fingertips slide under the waist band of my boxers.

**Update soon from right here.**


	20. Boy oh Boy

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch. 20 Boy Oh Boy**

**(CLARE)**

Dallas was so stressed about Asher that he wasn't sleeping and it was stressing me out so I decided he needed a diversion. The best way I know to clear a guy's mind, as inexperienced as I may be, is to use sex. Well I wasn't ready to make love to him but that didn't mean I couldn't distract him. I slipped my hand under the waistband of his boxers and his breathing hitched. The room was so dark and I was going entirely on feel but it kinda made it more exciting. My fingertips grazed into his pubic hair and I bit my lip, they felt slightly coarser than mine and I grasped them a bit to see what it would do, I was praised by a low moan from him.

"Clare you…"

Was he seriously trying to protest? Sorry wasn't about to stand for that; no more gentle caressing down to find him, I simply reached down and grabbed him and cut off his protests as he let out a moan from the back of his throat. His cock was hard, warm and the skin was soft. I could feel it throbbing and growing in my hand and I smiled biting my lip more, it was unexpectedly pleasing and carnally erotic that I could elicit this response from a simple touch. For a few seconds I simply held him, his whole body had tensed. When he finally relaxed I loosened my grip just enough to stroke up to the head of his erection with my fingertips. He tensed again moaning a little, my name streaming of the end trailing off his lips in a panting whisper. My fingertips grazed up to the head, the skin was so soft even softer than the shaft and it was so warm and dripping with pre-cum. The hot sticky liquid ran over my fingers and it was oddly pleasing.

He reached up putting a hand at the back of my head and pulling me down for a kiss. Our lips crashed together and there was so much fervor behind his kiss, his lips searching mine, tugging at them gently, his tongue dominating mine, his hand at the back of my head grasping at my curls while his other hand roamed over my curves. Using my thumb I swirled his pre-cum over the head of his erection and he moaned into the kiss, gently vibrating my lips and tongue. It was sort of peculiar to me that giving him so much bliss was turning me on. I felt my loins getting hot and the spot between my legs getting wet, beginning to soak my panties, a sort of tingling tickling feeling in my depths and my clitoris throbbing a little, even my nipples were getting hard.

After teasing his head a bit I curled my whole hand around the shaft and began stroking slowly but as his moaning increased so did my pace. His hand that had been caressing my side moved to the buttons on his dress shirt, I was using to sleep in and he undid a few buttons with one hand. When enough of them were open to allow him access to my breast his hand enveloped it, his fingers gently pinching my nipple and now it was my turn to moan into the kiss; I felt him smile as I moaned. My pace increasing exponentially he soon broke away from the kiss as a rapid chain of moans came from his throat, my name leaving his lips over and over. Without warning he exploded with a guttural moan, his body went completely taut and hard, he squeezed my breast a little harder and I moaned softly and bit my lip.

"Oh." I said in quiet shocked whisper as my hand became covered in his thick hot cum. "I should go wash my hand." I said a little louder as his hand finally dropped from my breast and his body relaxed.

I got out of the bed and went to the washroom turning on the light and shutting the door. Looking at my hand as I turned the water on, his cum was thick and creamy and sort of egg shell colored and it glistened. It took a few minutes for me to wash it off entirely and then I turned out the light and went back to the bed. As soon as I lay down Dallas was leaning over me and his lips crushed to mine, his tongue slid over my lips seeking access and I granted it. His tongue shot in finding mine immediately and wrestling with it, stroking it, encircling it and dancing with it. My arms came around his neck, those feeling of arousal coming back all at once as he moved on top of me just a bit and I found myself wanting to be touched by him and the feeling was scary and I pulled away.

"Was that a thank you or did you just really miss me while I was in the washroom?" I inquire lightly, trying to hide what I'm feeling.

"Both." He said and I could hear his smile. "But you didn't have to." He insists lying down again.

I turned on my side propping myself on my elbow and tracing my fingers along his muscles, have I mentioned how much I love his muscles? "I wanted to, it worked didn't it? Besides it was surprisingly…fun. Good to know I can control you like that." I teased.

He tickled me a little and I squirmed and giggled into the pillow so I wouldn't wake the house and then he kissed me softly. "Just know," he said in a low husky voice as he grabbed my breast again and began playing with my nipple and I gasped lightly, "it goes both ways."

He didn't let go and I could feel myself getting more aroused, my panties getting wet again and I unintentionally fell on my back on the mattress again. He ceased the opportunity to lap my other nipple and kiss the breast with opened mouthed kisses. My head went back and I moaned biting my lip, his other hand began gently caressing up my leg and my back arched instinctually. His hand gently parting my legs, his fingers lightly ran over my panties and I drew in a sharp surprised yet pleased breath through my teeth.

"You're so wet; you got turned on pleasing me." He says in a lusty but also half teasing voice. I feel my cheeks reddening and bite a little harder on my lip and my body tenses. Dallas kisses me softly as his fingers continue stroking me over my panties. "May I?" He asks breaking from the kiss.

I can feel butterflies in my stomach, and I'm getting hotter and wetter by the minute. How could I be so terrified and at the same time want him to touch me so badly? "Just…just go slow." I request timidly.

"Tell me to stop and I will, let me do this for you. I want to make you feel good." He tells me, his tone is kind and sincere but still laced with lust.

"O…okay." I say nervously. I really don't understand how I could want something so much, so very badly and yet be so incredibly petrified by it. Suddenly I am horribly self-conscious, a bunch of insecure thoughts fire off in my mind. _"What if he doesn't think I'm sexy? No the lights are out he can't even see me. What if I do something wrong? What if he doesn't like it? What if…" _My thoughts are cut off by the feeling of him slowly pulling my panties off as he kisses my navel. "Mike I…I've never…" I start sounding ridiculously nervous and timid and wish desperately that I didn't.

My panties are now off and he moves up and kisses me gently to stop my meek mumbling. "I know Princess, do you want me stop?"

"N…no I didn't say that but what if I do something wrong or…" he kisses me again to stop me.

"Relax Princess I'm doing all the work, you just lay back and enjoy." He assures me.

He crashes his lips to mine again as his hand goes between my legs, which have since closed after he took off my panties but his gentle stroking of my thigh and the fervor with which he is kissing me urge me to relax and my legs begin to part. His finger finds my clit and I gasp into the kiss and then moan as he starts making gentle circles. I deepen the kiss and my hands go behind his neck and begin raking through his tight curls. His fingers move down tracing along my slit and parting my lower lips with his fingers he slides one in. A trembling moan comes from my throat vibrating our lips and I feel him smile. The sensation is odd and frightening and yet so very pleasing. His finger starts moving, assailing my core slowly. I moan louder, arching my back and throwing my head back effectively breaking my lips from the kiss.

"You feel so incredible Princess. You are so beautiful." He whispers to me.

I hardly hear him as his pace steadily increases and my moaning becomes more rapid and a little louder. His finger slides out almost all the way and when it goes back in he's added another finger. My breathing turns into a gasp and then melts into a rapturous moan. His pace increases rapidly his other hand massaging one of my breasts and his mouth on my other breast kissing and lapping. So many sensations are shooting through my body; I'm completely lost in a sea of ecstasy. My mind so thoroughly gone in this storm of rapturous bliss Dallas is giving me everything I do is entirely instinct.

"Mike ohhhhh MMMMMMMMM!" It streams from my lips in a breathless moan as I climax.

My body starts shaking, my hips bucking, my breathing nothing but short pants and I pull at the hairs on the back of his head. Removing his hand from my breast and his mouth from my other, he begins stroking my hair and crashes his lips to mine in a fevered kiss. His fingers between my legs slowly reduce their pace helping me ride out my orgasm. When my body finally stops trembling he withdraws his fingers, causing me to jolt and whimper slightly. Rather than wash his hands like I did I hear him licking his fingers clean.

"Mmmmm You taste wonderful. How do you feel Princess?" He asks lying down next to me, pulling me into his arms and kissing my forehead.

"Good, really really good." I smile as my breathing regulates.

I lay my head on his chest and drape my arm across him, he's stroking my back and his rhythmic breathing is soothing and soon I'm asleep. Loud banging on the basement door, wakes me up the next morning.

"Dallas time to get up!" Adam yells through the door and I'm very glad the door is locked as the dress shirt never got re-buttoned and I'm exposed currently and I still have no panties on.

I sit up and Dallas opens his eyes and smiles at me. "Good morning Princess, you know you look adorable with morning hair."

I smile and start running my fingers through my curls to fix them but he catches my wrist gently and pulls me down for a kiss. "I should probably get ready for school." I say quietly when we pull apart.

Getting out of bed, retrieving my bag from the floor where I dropped it last night and going into the washroom. I quickly dress, brush my teeth, fix my hair and makeup, apply deodorant and exit the washroom to find Dallas dressed and talking with Adam. Dallas kisses my cheek and goes into the washroom to finish getting ready and I wonder where my panties went but decide not to search for them with Adam watching.

"We'll get breakfast at the Dot." Adam tells me looking me over closely. "How'd you sleep?" He asks after a minute.

"Great much better than I would have at home; I just wish my Mom and your Mom wouldn't totally blow their tops if they found out I was sleeping over." I lament.

"If we told my Mom you were sleeping over as my best friend she might let you stay and sleep in Drew's room since he's not currently using it. I still doubt your Mom would let you sleep over at a boys house even if that boy is your best friend, but I'm assuming she knows your boyfriend lives here." Adam comments.

"Yeah she does and she wouldn't let me sleep over anyway, best friend or not she thinks all guys are obsessed with sex and will try and take advantage of me." I scoff.

"Well she has a point we are but I don't mind sneaking you over and hiding you." He tells me and I kiss his cheek.

"Thanks Adam." I smile.

He smiles back as Dallas exits the washroom, he and I put our shoes on and grab our backpacks and we all get in the car. After a quick breakfast at the Dot we head to school, Owen is near the steps talking with Luke and a couple other Ice Hounds but when he sees us walking he leaves them and comes over.

"You doin' okay?" He asks looking me over closely.

"I'm fine; I slept at Mike's last night." I smile. "I'm going to put my bag and stuff in my locker." I say kissing Dallas softly as we enter the school.

"I'll go with you." Says Adam and we walk off to our lockers.

When we reach our lockers Eli is there and he greets us and asks how I am and I assure him that I'm fine as I open my locker.

"Hi Adam." Becky's high pitched voice chirps at us and we all turn around. "And Clare and Eli." She smiles.

"Hey Becky." Adam smiles.

"So you going to the game on Friday?" She asks.

"Well if you're going then I'll go to spend time with you." Adam flirts and I smile and shoot a warning look at Eli to turn back to his locker like I am.

"Yep I'll be there." She says.

"Cool I'll ask Dallas to grab me a ticket." Adam replies.

"Great I'll see you there." Becky says and I hear her start to walk away. Eli and I turn and smile at Adam and then Becky turns back. "Oh I almost forgot our parents are out of town tonight and Luke and I are having a small party. Luke was going to invite you and Dallas Clare but since I saw you first I'm inviting you. Starts around six at our place oh and Adam you can invite your brother and his girlfriend." Becky chirps and then walks away.

"Bianca won't be able to go since it's a school night and she has an early curfew but it's Drew's day off so he can come. You two are coming right?" Adam asks.

"I'll have to tell Mom I'm doing homework at someone's house but yeah I'm coming." I tell him.

"I have to meet Imogen and Fiona to discuss sets and costumes and anyway a party at miss sunshine's with a bunch of hockey players doesn't sound like my idea of fun." Eli says and I glower at him.

**(DALLAS)**

I was, as always sitting with the team at lunch but I wasn't eating much my mind was wandering back to Asher and his attack on Clare yesterday.

"Dude what's with you?" Owen asks.

I look at him and pull him up from the table leaving the lunch room and going to the first empty classroom I find. "We provoked him!" I state as we close the door.

"What are you talking about?" He inquires squeezing his eyebrows together.

"Our letter it provoked him and he went after Clare. He told her he wanted to make sure she wouldn't talk! What if he had…" I begin with the what if's and Owen grabs my shoulders and cut's me off.

"He didn't, I mean he touched her again but she sprayed him with her mace and got away. She went straight to Drew like she said she would and he kept her safe. The letter was a risk but there's no way he could know it was us, he's just being cautious. For all we know he did the same thing to all his past victims because I'm sure there's more. And if he's scared enough to threaten then he's worried they'll find something. Wich means there's something to find." Owen tells me.

"Yeah you're right but he touched her again and I want to kill him for it." I exclaim, punctuating the point by punching the wall.

"Come on lets go finish lunch." Owen says pushing me toward the door. We walk back to the lunchroom and sit down again.

"Hey," Luke says as soon as we're seated, "Becky just texted I got the final guest list for the party tonight. It'll be me and Becks obviously, you two, Bo and Ingvar, Drew and Adam. Becky also invited Jenna, Alli and Dave and of course your girl is coming Dallas, Becks just confirmed it." He tells us and I smile.

"Tickets for tomorrow's game guys." Coach says dropping the stack on the table and I grab them.

"Adam wants to come again, Tris is coming right?" I ask Owen and he nods. "Rookie is Maya coming to the game?" I call across the table.

"Yeah as always." He nods.

"Oh yeah Becky wants to come again." Luke says.

"That explains why Adam wants to come again and one for Clare, so here is five seats together." I say pulling out the tickets and putting the rest on the table for the other Ice Hounds, then hand tickets to Owen, Luke and Cam. "I'm going to find Clare and give her and Adam their tickets."

"Doesn't Adam live with you?" Luke asks.

"Yeah but the misfits will be eating together." Owen says rolling his eyes just slightly and I hit his back lightly.

"Misfits?" Luke questions with raised eyebrows.

"Long story." Owen says.

Luke gives him a look but shrugs and I go out to the picnic tables where I know Clare and Adam will be eating.

"Hey." She smiles at me.

"Hi Princess." I smile back taking her in my arms and kissing her softly. "Here's your ticket for tomorrow night's game and here's yours Adam."

"Thanks." Adam smiles.

"No problem, so should we pick you up for the party tonight?" I ask Clare.

"Sure I told my Mom I had a science project to work on with Alli." Clare smiles.

I smile and kiss her softly as the bell rings. "Come on Princess I'll walk you to class." I say taking her hand and interlacing our fingers.

**(CLARE)**

As I'm checking my outfit over in the mirror Jake knocks on my door. "You're rides downstairs; whoa you're going to work on a science project dressed like that?" He questions looking me over.

I'm wearing a black denim skirt, and a blue half sleeve top with a sweetheart neckline, blue leggings and blue two inch heels. I straightened my hair and put in sliver hoops and of course my cross. "No going to a party at Luke and Becky's, with Mike and Adam." I tell him as I grab my furry over coat to hide said outfit from my parents. I push my way past Jake and grab my purse, call goodbye to my Mom and go out to the car.

"Hey Princess." Dallas smiles and kisses me.

"Hi." I say as he starts driving. "Hey Adam." I say turning back to greet him.

He smiles at me and I look at his outfit; black jeans and I see a green shirt peeking out from his jacket. Dallas is wearing dark jeans, a red shirt and his Ice Hounds jacket naturally. Dallas parks out front of the Baker's a few minutes later and we walk to the front door hand in hand and Adam rings the bell.

"Hey come on in guys." Luke says waving us in. "Oh uh hang your coats by the door." He says as he closes the door again.

Dallas takes my coat and hangs it up for me. "Wow you look fantastic!" He compliments.

"Thanks." I smile as he takes off his jacket and I'm pulled away into a double hug with Jenna and Alli.

"Okay everybody's here let's do something." Luke says.

"Like what?" Dallas asks putting a hand at my lower back and escorting me to the sofa. Owen sits next to me and Luke next to him. Jenna and Alli sit on the floor, Dave sits next to Alli. Becky, Adam and Drew sit in the armchairs, Bo, Ingvar and two puck bunnies' I assume they brought sit at the end of the coffee table.

"How about I never?" Alli suggests.

"Last time I played that it ended with us making out at your house." Drew smiles.

"Not happening this time." Dave says with a hard tone before kissing Alli's cheek.

"What's I never?" Becky asks.

"We take turns saying something we've never done and if you have done it you remove an article of clothing." Jenna explains.

"Oh that sounds ummm…" Becky says sounding unsure.

"Becky why don't you show me around the house while they play." Adam suggests.

"That's a great idea." Becky smiles with a relieved tone as she takes Adam's hand and they walk upstairs.

"Okay let's see Dallas you go first." Alli smiles.

"Never have I ever cheated on someone." He says and I have to admit I let out a relieved breath.

Dave takes off a shoe, Drew his watch and Luke also takes off a shoe.

"You're turn Clare." Alli smiles at me.

"Never have I ever…" I pause to think and Alli looks at me expectantly, "stolen a car." I finish and Alli shoots me a look.

Bo, Ingvar, not too surprisingly Owen and to my shock Dallas, all take off a shoe.

"You stole a car?!" I admonish.

"I was fourteen it was a dumb prank." He explains.

"My turn," Says Dave, "never have I ever been drunk."

Drew removes a shoe as do the puck bunnies and Bo, Ingvar, Owen and Dallas all take off their remaining shoes.

"Okay my turn," Alli says giving me an impish look, "never have I ever kissed another girls boyfriend on the neck."

"ALLI!" I scold and she and Jenna are giggling, off comes my necklace and everyone else gapes at me.

"St. Clare kissed another girls boyfriend on the neck?!" Owen exclaims.

"Declan Coyne grade nine when I was doing props on his play." I explain scowling at Alli.

"Coyne as in Fiona?" Dallas questions.

"Her twin brother." Explains Alli. "Your turn Jenna." Alli giggles.

Now Jenna is giving me an impish look. _"Oh great." _

"Never have I ever been blackmailed into a date." Jenna smirks.

"Guys!" I exclaim taking off a shoe.

"You got blackmailed into a date?" Dallas asks.

"Fitz." Chorus Alli, Jenna, Drew and Owen.

"Who the hell is Fitz?" Dallas demands.

"Remember I told you one of my friends had a crush on her that would be him." Owen says.

"So he blackmailed you into going to Vegas Night?" Dave asks.

"Yes Dave," I assert throwing a chip at him.

"My turn," puck bunny number one says, "never have I ever had a threesome."

Thankfully no one takes off anything and puck bunny number two says she's never kissed another girl. No one takes off anything again. Bo and Ingvar have thick accents and it's hard to understand them but I guess Luke did because he takes off his shirt and then belt or possibly he just wanted to strip.

"Never have I ever been to a strip club." Drew says.

All the Ice Hounds remove shirts, Luke taking off his wife beater so that he's now bare chested. I scowl at Dallas and smack his stomach.

"Long before you Princess," He says kissing me softly, "you know I only have eyes for you."

"You better." I state and he kisses my cheek.

"Never have I ever smoked pot." Luke says.

Drew removes his shirt and Owen his belt.

"Never have I ever been so drunk I blacked out." Says Owen and Drew removes his belt.

Now it's my turn and I can play Alli and Jenna's little game too. "Never have I ever had a guy try to pay me for a blow job."

Alli scowls at me as she takes off her bracelet.

"Someone tried to pay you for a blow job?" Luke questions.

"Yeah that one." Alli says glowering at Owen.

"Hey that was a long time ago and I feel badly for that now." Owen says in a semi apology.

Dallas starts laughing and Owen tells him it's his turn. "No it's my turn." Alli insists and Dallas shrugs. "Never have I ever been felt up in the hallway." Alli says with a devilish smile at me.

"I'm going to kill you guys." I exclaim as I stand up and pull off my leggings.

"When were you felt up in the hallway?" Drew asks.

"By who?" Dallas and Owen demand together.

"Wes last year it was sort of a misunderstanding." I explain.

"Okay Jenna's turn." Alli says.

"Never have I ever been caught by my boyfriend with his rival in my house." Jenna smiles at me.

"Have I mentioned that I'm going to kill you two?" I exclaim. "And I'm not taking anything else off."

"Wait I know this one Eli caught you with Fitz in your house, Adam told me." Drew smiles.

"Told you what?" Adam asks as he and Becky come down the stairs.

"When the hell was Fitz at your house?" Owen questions as we all start getting dressed again.

"Oh that." Adam nods.

"Didn't he have his shirt off?" Alli laughs.

"Just his hoodie and that's enough from you two. Were you trying to see how fast you get me naked or what?" I scowl at them slipping my shoes and necklace back on but leaving my leggings off.

"I thought that was my job." Dallas says pulling me into his lap and kissing my neck. His kissing is interrupted by Adam throwing a pillow at him.

"Um okay is anyone hungry? I made a bunch of food." Becky says obviously uncomfortable.

We all get up and go to the dining room table to eat. "So what did you two do upstairs while we were playing?" Drew asks Adam in a low voice.

"We talked and might have kissed a little." Adam smiles and Dallas, Drew and Owen all elbow him or hit his back lightly as if to say 'way to go'. "We stayed more dressed than all of you." Adam snickers.

"Blame Alli and Jenna for my state of undress." I scowl.

"What do you mean?" Adam asks.

"They took turns spilling her dirty little secrets, turns out St. Clare is not such a saint." Owen says.

"Dude I coulda told you that." Retorts Adam.

"Yeah so when was Fitz ever at your house?" Owen asks.

"When he got out of juvie and was cyber stalking her." Adam says for me.

"And this guy is you're friend?" Dallas asks Owen.

"Was, was my friend I haven't seen him in a long time." Owen defends himself as we all sit down again to eat.

After we eat, Bo and Ingvar have disappeared somewhere with their puck bunnies. Dave is one corner kissing Alli and Luke and Jenna are talking in another, Adam and Becky are talking in the arm chairs.

"So you're not as innocent as you appear." Dallas smirks at me as he, Owen, Drew and I are all sitting on the couch.

"No I was never innocent, maybe a little naïve. St. Clare was a nickname I always hated." I tell them.

"Yeah I used to think it suited you." Owen chides and I hit him with a pillow.

"So is there anything Alli and Jenna didn't tell me about?" Dallas questions.

"Plenty." I respond.

"Like what?" He prods.

"Like I'll tell you some other time." I insist. Drew and Owen open their mouths like they're about to say something so I stop them. "I have plenty on the both of you so shut your yaps." I insist and they both close their mouths.

We stay until nearly ten when most of us had to be home. When we arrive at my house Adam waves to me as he texts Becky and Dallas gets out and walks me to the door and kisses me goodnight.

**Update soon**

**Okay so I had a guest reviewer do a stroy request for a story where Eli cheats on Clare, now originally I just scoffed on the idea but as my head never shuts down (hence the insomnia) it came up with a sort of plot. After all fair is fair if he's going to cheat on her then she gets to cheat on him, more and better (insert evil laugh here). But still not sure if I want to add it to my list over upcoming stories so I'm putting it to a vote, if I get enough votes that this is something you guys want to read I will add it to my lsit. Just know now it will be raunchy and dirty and well you all know I'm a gutter bunny so yeah. **


	21. Dreaming of You

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Ch. 21 Dreaming of You**

**(CLARE)**

"I'm going to find Katie," Jake announced as soon as we arrived at school on Friday morning.

I waved to him and started going inside when my cell phone rang. I pulled it from my purse and looked at the number I didn't recognize it but it was a Toronto area code.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone.

"Hi Miss Edwards, this Carl in the HR department at the interpreter I just have a couple questions about your time as an intern."

"Okay." I said slowly and ducked into an empty classroom.

"Did Mr. Shostak ever make any inappropriate advances or comments to you?" Carl asked me.

Asher's threats came flooding through my mind; as much as I wanted to tell them everything I was too afraid. Worried what he would do, that he could run my life, that no one would believe me even though they were calling me and worst of all that Dallas, Adam, Eli, Owen, Drew and Bianca would get dragged into it. I had to believe karma would catch up with him and in the end he would get what he deserved. After all if they were calling me they were probably calling others.

"No our relationship was entirely professional." I lied and felt a little ashamed as soon as I did.

"Did you ever see or hear Mr. Shostak making advances or inappropriate comments to anyone else?" He asks.

"No I didn't." I tell him this time I didn't have to lie. Of course this was mostly because all his attentions had been focused on me.

"Thank you Miss Edwards, that will be all." Carl tells me before hanging up.

I stay in the classroom another minute, I felt guilty for lying but honestly more worried what would have happened if I had told the truth. I exit the classroom and go to my locker where I find Adam at his locker.

"You okay? You look…pensive." Adam says when he sees me.

"Fine just a lot on my mind." I assure him opening my locker.

"A lot meaning Asher or Dallas?" He asks.

"Neither." I lie which is dumb because Adam knows when I'm lying. Thankfully I am saved by Dallas himself when he comes and puts his arms around me and kisses my temple.

"Hey Princess, so I was thinking we'd go out again on Saturday. I made reservations at Ristorante Italiano on the pier." He says.

"Sounds perfect and very romantic." I smile turning in his arms to give him a chaste kiss.

"Hey guys how was the party last night?" Eli asks coming to his locker.

"Other than Alli and Jenna spilling half of my secrets during I never it was great." I inform him as he opens his locker.

He closes the locker door just a little to look at me, his eyebrows knitted together. "What do you mean?" He questions.

"They kinda ganged up on her saying things like I never got blackmailed into a date and I never got felt up in the hallway." Adam explains.

"Gotcha." Eli snickers.

The bell rang, Dallas offered me his arm and walked me to class. At the doorway I kissed his cheek and went in with Adam. Aside from the surprising phone call that morning the rest of the day was status quo; getting the latest gossip from Alli, lunch with Eli and Adam, Dallas sneaking kisses at my locker between classes and so on. When the last bell of the day rang I met Adam on the front steps and we went to the Dot for coffee before heading to the arena for the game and by this time the phone call had completely slipped to the back of my mind.

"So you going to ask Becky out?" I prodded as we drank our coffee.

"I don't know maybe, I'm still feeling it out." He said a little shyly.

"Oh come on Adam she's totally into you, why else would she be so interested if you're going to the game, or invite you to the party, or go upstairs with you instead of playing I never?" I inquire with a raise of my eyebrows.

He just smiles and blushes and I giggle.

**(ASHER)**

I was about to finish an article and e-mail it to my editor when I hear a knock on my door and look up to see Linda so I wave her in. She closes the door behind her and hands me a folder.

"That's the report from the investigation. They didn't find any evidence of misconduct or harassment. They did however question the fact that all of your past interns have been female despite the fact that none of them accused you of anything. In fact it says most of them had nothing but glowing things to say about you. Well I want you to know I'm in your corner but they will be watching you very closely with your next intern. You'll be getting one in a couple of weeks right?" She asks me.

"Yes, you know it never occurred to me that all my interns had been girls. Isn't that funny?" I chuckle lightly feigning ignorance of this fact.

"Yes well next time you might want to think about taking on a male intern to appease them. I mean they didn't find anything during the investigation and I know you're a consummate professional but you will be under a microscope for a while. At least the investigation is done right? Well I'll let you get back to work; I know you have a deadline to meet." Linda smiles.

"Yes thank you Linda." I smile keeping my voice and face light and happy.

I quickly finish my article and send it off then thumb through the report from the investigation. _"I knew they wouldn't find anything because I always make sure no one will talk. Taking on a male intern next time was just fine with me as I was nowhere close to being done with Clare. First thing first make her, her little boyfriend and their friends pay for even shining this light upon me. Let's see it's Friday night I'm sure she'll be at the game for her fucking boyfriend and his hockey team. It's probably sold out but they always go to that steak place afterwards. Of course last time I went she saw me and two of those jocks threw me out. It's a good thing I know the best makeup and special effects guy in the entertainment business of Toronto."_

I start getting ready to leave as I thumb through the contacts on my phone and find the right one. "Hi Harry I need a favor."

"Sure anything Asher." Harry replies.

"I need a disguise to go undercover for an investigative report what are you doing right now?" I ask.

"I'm on set but I'm on lunch can you get here in 20?" He asks.

"Be there in fifteen." I smile as I hang up and leave the office.

**(CLARE)**

As we walk up to the arena and get in line we hear a familiar chirpy, high pitched voice calling to us.

"Adam! Clare!" Becky calls coming up to us a big smile on her face. "Isn't this fun? I love coming to Luke's games! Did you guys enjoy the party last night? I sure did it was so much fun! You know I think my brother really like Jenna maybe she could come to next weeks game with us wouldn't that be nice? Oh look we're going in."

We hand the guy our tickets and he punches them and hands them back to us and we go into the crowd as we begin looking for our seats.

"Okay Mike and Owen always make sure we sit with Tris and Maya and they usually get here pretty early so we just need to find our row and never mind I see Maya. I think Tris has her up on his shoulders." I say pointing to Maya who is a foot taller than the crowd currently.

Maya waves us over and I let Adam push his way through the crowd while Becky takes his hand and I take hers so we stay together. This time we're behind the bench area for the Ice Hounds, it's on the ice so it's a lot lower than we are and there's the plastic barrier between us but still. I sit in the exact middle with Tristan and Maya on my right and Adam and Becky on my left. We talk a bit and then the music starts announcing the start of the game and out come the Ice Hounds. Luke waves to Becky as he enters the bench area and Cam blows a kiss to Maya. Owen waves to all of us and I blow a kiss to Dallas. The opposing team comes out and after the national anthem the game begins.

At the end of the first period the Ice Hounds are down by one but it's still early, still they all look angry. Dallas smiles when he sees me but looks angry when he's talking to the other players. They skate away to the locker room for a pep talk I'm betting and the five of us get up to get some food. By the time we return to our seats the players have returned to the bench area. Maya blows a kiss to Cam as she sits down with her box of food, Tristan sort of high fives Owen through the plastic barrier and Dallas winks at me. At the end of the second period the Ice hounds are up by two and Owen got to play all period. Becky and Adam seem to have entirely forgotten about the game as they are lost in their own little world of talking. In the end the Ice hounds win 4-3 and Cam scores the winning goal.

"Okay lets head over to Little Miss Steaks; we can start pushing together the tables." I say standing up after the team disappears into the locker room.

"Actually I'm going to take Becky for ice cream and I'll walk her home after. Can you let them know?" Adam requests.

"Sure Adam, have fun." I smile hugging him quickly.

We all walk out together, Adam and Becky hand in hand; once we're outside they go in the opposite direction of us. Tristan, Maya and I walk to the restaurant, Marisol smiles when she sees us and waves us back to where the team always sits and helps us push together five tables. The three of us sit down against the wall at the far end so we can see the bar area and the team when they walk in. We order milkshakes and Tristan orders pie and we sit back to wait.

"Clare do you know that guy at the bar? He's been staring at you for like five minutes now." Maya says.

Just as I look over the guy looks away but I caught a glimpse of him and he didn't look familiar. He has a mess of dark blond curls like Wesley if his hair was the color of K.C.'s. He also has thin John Lennon style glasses and green eyes. I was also able to make out a pointed chin and thick nose before he turned away.

"No I've never seen him before." I shrug.

"Yeah well he's too old to be staring at you for so long. If he does it when the team gets here I am so telling my brother." Tristan says.

"Yeah and Cam and of course Dallas." Maya agrees.

Just then our milkshakes and Tristan's pie comes and a couple minutes later the team comes in. I move over one seat and so does Maya, Owen sits between me and Tristan, Campbell sits between Tristan and Maya and Dallas of course sits on the other side of me. Marisol brings two pitchers of soda and tells them their pizza will be out shortly.

"Where is Becky?" Luke asks.

"Adam took her for ice cream he'll walk her home afterwards." I inform him.

"Yeah after the party last night I had a feeling they might go out." Luke says.

"You don't look very happy about it do you not like Adam? Because let me tell you Adam is one of the best people I know." I say in defense of my best friend.

"No I have nothing against Adam I just know our parents won't be okay with Becky dating someone like Adam." Luke tells me.

"Adam is an amazing person he's been through so much and he still has such a bright outlook. He'll take great care of your sister, he's nothing but a gentleman and…" I start to rant on the great character of my best friend but Luke cuts me off.

"Clare calm down, I already know Adam is a good guy Becky will not shut up about him. I didn't say I had a problem with it, I said my parents would." Luke states.

I smile and relax again taking a sip of my milkshake and eating some of the whipped cream with my finger. Dallas puts his arm around me and I see that guy at the bar looking at me again and again he looks away as soon as I look at him. Marisol brings the pizza for the team and when I look back the guy is gone so I shrug it off. Dallas eats with his arm around me the whole time and I soon finish my milkshake. I get up to use the washroom and I see that guy again only now he's moved to a booth in the far corner where he is able to see our table. I do have to admit that is a little creepy but I'm certain I've never seen that guy before besides with Dallas, Owen and the rest of the team there I'm certain I'll be safe. When I get out of the washroom I see Drew and Bianca coming in and I wave to them.

"Hey you guys should eat with us, unless of course you want to be alone." I offer.

"Yo Torres come join us." Owen calls out before they can answer.

They walk over to the table but Drew furrows his eyebrows a bit. "Doesn't look like you can fit any more chairs." Drew comments.

"I don't know what you mean there's the perfect amount of chairs." Bianca smiles and then takes me by the shoulders and gently guides me onto Dallas' lap. "Clare will sit there and you sit here." Bianca says pushing Drew a little more roughly into the chair I was sitting in. "And I will sit here." Bianca concludes sitting in Drew's lap.

**(ASHER)**

I was in the steak house for about half an hour when finally Clare walks in with a stout boy and tiny blonde girl with glasses. They push together a bunch of tables in the back with one of the waitresses and then Clare and her two friends sat down I assume to wait for the hockey team. I tried not to but I just couldn't help staring at Clare; she was leaning back and it was pushing out her luscious chest. I do love that chest of hers, so big and round and bouncy. When I see that she knows I'm looking I look away nonchalantly but I'm certain that she didn't recognize me. It isn't long before her boyfriend and the rest of the team shows up and I have to admit I was actually a little jealous when he put his arm around her.

The second time she sees me looking I decide to move to a booth but stay where I can watch her. When she gets up to use the washroom I watch her perky ass sway as she walks. When she comes back she's talking to two people, I recognize the boy to be the one that dropped her off before and I'm certain kissed her although the curly haired girl with him appears to be his girlfriend. She's hot but too flashy for my taste, I like them sweet and innocent and naïve just like Clare. The three of them walk back to the table and the curly haired girl puts Clare on her boyfriend's lap while she sits on her guys lap.

Unfortunately for me most of my view of Clare is now blocked and it isn't long before I start fantasizing about all the things I want to do to her. Like throwing her down on the table, ripping her clothes off and fucking her so hard she cries. Bending her over the booth and taking her from behind so I can spank her nice round ass while I pound into her. I hear her boyfriend call her Princess, just as she was dressed at the costumed dance at their school. Princess is a good name for her and brings a whole assortment of new fantasies into my mind like fucking her in a corset, one of the ones that goes under her titties so I can watch them bounce all around as I fuck her hard. Just thinking about what I want to do to her makes me hard and when I see them all getting ready to leave I control myself so I can follow them out.

**(CLARE)**

"Come on Princess I'll drive you home." Dallas says helping me off of his lap when we are told to leave because the restaurant is closing.

I notice that the only other customer still in there is that guy that was looking at me all night and now I'm officially creeped out. Since we're leaving however I don't see any point in pointing it out to Dallas or Owen or Drew or even Bianca as I know they'll all just go and confront him.

"You know," I say as we're walking out, "I kinda miss when Owen would drive us all home and I was forced to sit on your lap."

"Next week I'll drive then." Owen says putting a hand on each of our shoulders and sticking his head between us.

"Sounds good." I smile as I stop walking and turn around giving Owen a hug. "Good game I'm glad you actually got to play. See you Monday." I tell him, he smiles and kisses my cheek.

"Hey you're my mistress where's my hug?" Bianca demands and suddenly the whole parking lot freezes. Most of the guys have shocked but very happy lascivious looks on their faces, Maya, Tristan and Campbell however just look shocked and confused.

"Sorry." I giggle, ignoring the fact that most of the guys are probably fantasizing about us, I give Bianca a big hug. She kisses my cheek as I'm hugging her and pulls away with a pleased smile and I giggle.

"Oh I'm going to special hell." Drew says. I smile at him, put my hand on his shoulder and kiss his cheek. "Yep special hell." Is all he says.

"Me too." Adds Owen. Bianca is now laughing hysterically and I'm laughing pretty hard myself. "Alright niners lets go I gotta get you all home." Owen orders breaking everyone else from their thoughts.

I wave to everyone once again and get into Mr. Torres' car with Dallas so he can drive me home. He walks me to the door, bends down a bit to put his arms under my but lifting me up above him for our kiss goodnight. When the porch lights flicker we break apart and he sets me down again.

"Goodnight Princess. I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow night." He says.

"Goodnight Mike sweet dreams." I smile before I go into my house.

"Hi sweetheart how was the game?" Mom asks me.

"It was great the Ice Hounds won again. I'm going to get ready for bed." I say as I begin ascending the stairs.

"Alright oh Clare," My mom calls and I back up to where I can see her again, "I was thinking we should have your boyfriend over for dinner."

"Uh sure mom I'll ask him while we're on our date tomorrow." I nod.

Once I'm already for bed and in bed I grab my phone from my nightstand and text Adam.

**Clare: How was your ice cream date with Becky?**

**Adam: We kissed goodnight ;-)**

**Clare: Adam that's fantastic!**

**Adam: Yeah just she has to hide me from her parents which sucks.**

**Clare: Luke did say their parents wouldn't be okay with it but if Becky really likes you I'm sure they'll come around.**

**Adam: Yeah I hope so. I just got home talk to you later.**

**Clare: Goodnight Adam.**

I put my phone on the nightstand again and read until I fall asleep.

**(ASHER)**

I followed Clare and her doofy boyfriend back to Clare's house. He lifted her up to kiss her goodnight; it was sweet and romantic and made me want to vomit. Someone as angelic and pleasant as Clare should be treated with a firm hand so they know reality is harsh. Once the boyfriend leaves I get out and explore the perimeter of the house. No alarm, an exterior garage door that is unlocked and I'm betting the interior one is too but don't venture to find out tonight. I go around to the back yard and see a light come on in a bedroom, I can tell it's Clare's by the posters that are visible from here. She appears in the window a minute later and closes her blinds, after scouting the rest of the yard I get back in my car and drive home.

I had such wonderful dreams that night of stealing Clare's virginity. Having her at my mercy and hearing her screaming my name, begging for me to stop; which only makes me fuck her harder. I wake up in a wonderful mood my dreams still fresh on my mind.

**(CLARE)**

At 5:30 in the evening I shower and start getting ready for my date with Dallas. I dry off and put on my bathrobe and blow dry my hair straight. Considering it's early February and we're eating on the pier it's going to be cold. I opt for plum colored tights, a black skirt that comes to mid-thigh and a long sleeve plum sweater with a sweetheart neckline. My black ankle boots with 3 inch wedge heels and pearl earrings complete my outfit. Some plum eye shadow, blush, mascara and lip gloss complete my look and just as I finish the doorbell rings. Glen opens the door and I hear them exchange hellos. I grab my purse and phone from my room and go downstairs.

"You look incredible Princess." Dallas compliments when he sees me.

"Thanks." I smile kissing his cheek. "You look very handsome."

He's wearing dress shoes, black slacks and a long sleeve black dress shirt, with his Ice Hounds jacket of course.

"Thanks; we should get going our reservation is in thirty minutes." He says.

I say goodnight to my mom and Glen, mom reminds me to be home by eleven as I grab my black pea coat and we walk out the door.

"My mom wants you to come for dinner sometime." I mention after we've been driving a few minutes.

"I'd be happy to Princess, anytime." He says.

"Yeah you may not be so willing after you've had a full meal with my mother." I warn him and he laughs.

He parks in the parking lot for the pier but we still have to walk a bit to get to the pier and I realize just how cold the night truly is. I warm up as soon as Dallas puts his arm around me and pulls me to him.

"Reservations for Dallas." He says to the host when we enter the restaurant.

The host looks at the list a minute. "Of course this way Mr. Dallas."

We're shown to our table in the back corner of the restaurant; it has a candle and vase with flowers on it all very romantic. We sit down, take off our coats and begin looking at the menu. The waitress comes to get our drink order and brings us complimentary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping.

"So you plan on going into hockey professionally?" I ask after our food has come.

"We'll we're going to start getting scouts at the games for Universities. I'll probably get a hockey scholarship University but I don't know if I'll make it to the NHL or anything." Dallas tells me.

"Well I think your good enough for the NHL." I comment and he smiles.

"And you Princess? What do you want be?" He inquires.

"Well I did want to be a journalist but after Asher I'm not so sure." I admit, looking down and biting my lip.

He reaches across the table and takes my hand. "No Asher talk tonight Princess, it's just you and me." He says then kisses my hand.

I smile and feel myself falling for him just a little bit more. After dinner we share tiramisu for dessert and then we go for a walk down the pier. He has his arm around me and we meander to the end of the pier slowly, I lean on the railing and he puts his arms around me hugging me close as we watch the moon on the water for a bit. When we start making our way back I pull him into the arcade.

"Come on hockey star lets see if you can beat me at table hockey." I challenge.

He chuckles a little and exchanges $5 for tokens and then puts the right amount in the slot on the air hockey table. We start hitting the puck back and forth and I score the first goal.

"Edwards one, Dallas zero." I chide with a wink.

He scowls at me a little and tries to put on a game face but just ends up smiling at me. After a few more minutes of hitting the puck back and forth I score another goal.

"No way!" Dallas exclaims.

"That's Edwards two and Dallas still zero." I giggle.

He finally scores a goal after another minute of hitting the puck back and forth.

"Score!" He exclaims.

"I'm still beating you hockey star." I remind him.

He pulls out the puck and we hit it back and forth again but I win after I score two goals in a row.

"How did a girl that knows nothing about sports get so good at air hockey?" He inquires coming to my side of the table, putting his arms around me and pulling me into a kiss.

"First of all air hockey is a game, not a sport and I got so good cause I had good teachers." I inform him.

"Yeah and who taught you how to play air hockey?" He asks.

"Just some friends come on lets play something else, you have more tokens. You can beat me at skee ball." I offer pulling out of his arms and taking his hand.

He holds my hand firm and pulls me back to him. "Hold it, you didn't answer my question."

I sigh and lean against the air hockey table, I pull him close to me so I don't have to say this very loud.

"Remember I told you I had sister in Africa?" I question and he nods.

"Well before Africa she…was having a hard time she tried to commit suicide so while my parents were busy with her I was sort of forgotten. I started spending a lot of time at the Dot where her ex-boyfriend worked and eventually I started spending a lot of time with him and his friend. Anyway they taught me how to play air hockey. They sort of became like big brothers and helped me get through it by distracting me and paying attention to me since my family had virtually forgotten me at that point." I confess to him.

He brushes a curl from my face and brings his lips to mine in soft and sweet kiss. "Come on lets play again Princess." He says putting in more tokens.

After I beat him at 3 games of air hockey he kicks my ass at skee ball but he does win enough tickets to get me a small pink bear, earning him another kiss. By now it's nearly 10:30 and we walk back the car, then he drives me home.

"I can sneak you out so you can spend the night again." He offers when he parks out front of my house.

"I have to get up early for church tomorrow." I say frowning a bit.

"No sexy time then?" He pouts.

"Mike!" I scold.

"Only kidding, come on I better get you inside." He says getting out of the car as do I. We walk to my door and he lifts me up to kiss me again. "Sweet dreams Princess." He says when he puts me down again.

"Goodnight Mike."

**Update Soon**

**Alright so I got enough yes votes to add the cheating story on my list. Keep in mind all of you that voted for it that I have 12 other idea's for stories including at least three story requests from readers and the next stroy I'm going to write is Flare since it was second most requested after ClOwen. I am currently wrting five stories which is my limit so as soon as one of them ends I will begin on the Flare story. But yeah the cheating story has been added to the list.**

**If you read Friends with Benefits vote yay or nay for the Future Fic (another guest request) you can find my schpiel on it at the end of chapter 32.**


	22. Love Is Broken

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**Kinda long sorry**

**Ch. 22 Love Is Broken**

**(CLARE)**

Monday morning, even I'm not a big fan of Monday's; yes studious St. Clare doesn't like going to school on Mondays try not to die of shock. This Monday in particular held a bit of anxiousness for me as Liam and I had to preform our scene in drama class, which meant we were supposed to kiss. After Dallas pinned him to the wall, even though he'd apologized to Liam, I still wasn't sure Liam would be able to actually kiss me. We hadn't rehearsed the kiss all week, he'd been too nervous to. Okay so I don't exactly blame him after Dallas looked like he was about to kill him and then went all caveman to stake his claim on me. Not to mention Drew showing up at school and watching us while he looked ready to kill someone. Which had nothing at all to do with Liam but he didn't know that.

Walking into school while being preoccupied over whether another boy was going to be able to kiss me may have not been the best thing. I didn't hear Dallas calling my name or see him running up to me. It wasn't until he picked me up by the hips and my feet left the ground that I snapped out of my thoughts, with a shriek. My hands went onto his shoulders instinctually and then our lips were crushed together. Well now of course I realized Dallas was holding me up and kissing me, the way he usually does at my door, and I reciprocated. Parting my lips, to allow his tongue in and he didn't hesitate, my hands slid on his shoulders, my arms linking around his neck. Our kiss became more heated and passionate by the second but when I heard probably the whole hockey team whistling and hollering I started giggling and broke from the kiss.

Dallas set me down again but kept an arm around my waist. "Good morning Princess."

"Yes that was a good morning." I smile as we walk up the steps to where the better part of the Ice Hounds are.

"Now aren't you two glad I pushed things along to get you guys together." Owen remarks with a smile.

Owen is on the step below me, making me taller than him for once and I leave Dallas' arm for a second. Putting a hand on Owen's shoulder and kissing his cheek. "Yes I am thank you Owen."

"Awwww that kiss was so romantic!" Jenna squeals from behind me suddenly.

"You guys are so cute!" Alli agrees, smiling at Dallas and then glaring at Owen.

I decide that before Alli gives Owen anymore death glares we should leave. "I have to go to my locker, I'll see you later." I say giving Dallas a restrained kiss before linking my arms with the girls and going inside.

"Does Dallas always kiss you like that?" Jenna asks.

"Usually that's how he kisses me goodnight at my door." I tell them.

"So cute! I have to get some stuff from my locker; I'll see you in class." Alli says.

I wave and walk away to my locker where I see Adam talking to Becky and I smile. "Morning guys." I say breaking them from whatever their conversation was to look at me.

"Hey Clare." Adam says and then wipes under the corner of my mouth with his thumb. "I take it by the smeared lip gloss you've already seen Dallas this morning? Or does he need to kill somebody?" Adam inquires.

"Mike doesn't need to kill anyone; the only person I kissed this morning was him." I assure Adam.

"Well I should get ready for class I have a big presentation. Bye Clare, see you later Adam." Becky says before giving Adam a peck on the cheek and walking off.

"And what were you two talking about hmmm?" I inquire as I open my locker.

"Who two?" Eli questions coming to his locker.

"Adam and Becky." I inform him.

"Oh, you ask her out yet?" Eli queries.

"Yes actually, we're going to the game again on Friday and I'm taking her to a late dinner afterwards. Which means I'll need the car after the game, so you and Dallas will have to find a ride home from Little Miss Steaks." Adam tells me.

"Oh that's fine Owen was going to give us a ride anyway." I shrug, closing my locker again.

"So you ready for your scene today?" Eli asks.

"I am I just hope Liam doesn't back out of the kiss at the last minute." I say.

"Dallas apologized right?" Adam asks as we begin walking to class.

"Yeah but Liam still seemed nervous about it and we didn't rehearse the kiss all week because he was afraid to kiss me. It didn't help that your brother showed up the next day all angry and watching us, which had to do with Asher and not Liam but he didn't know that." I tell them.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Eli assures me when we arrive at the door to Miss Oh's class. "I'll see you guys for morning break." Eli says then waves and walks down the hall and Adam and I go into class.

"So where are you taking Becky for dinner on Friday?" I ask Adam as we sit at our desks.

"Adam you have a date with Becky Baker?!" Alli exclaims sitting at her desk.

"Yes Alli. I thought I'd take her to Café Bene. It's small, intimate, romantic and the food is really good without being overpriced." Adam informs us.

"AWWWWW!" Alli and I reply together, making the rest of the class look at us just as the bell rings.

After class Adam walked me to drama where Liam was waiting and he looked nervous. Adam wished me luck before leaving for his next class but our scene went pretty well, Liam did kiss me, the quickest kiss maybe ever but hey at least we managed the kiss. Miss Dawes gave us an A so I was happy. I didn't see Dallas much, but he did sneak a kiss from me at the end of lunch while I was at my locker. In science Wes and I were paired to do a report so we decided to meet afterschool at the Dot to start working on it. Jake told me he was going to Katie's to study and would stay for dinner and Mom and Glen had dinner with some of Glen's clients so I was on my own for dinner.

"Hey Princess you want to come watch practice?" Dallas asked when school let out and I was at my locker.

"Wait you get to watch practice? I thought they were closed practices?" Adam queried.

"They are but Clare's special." Dallas smiles.

"I snuck into one after Asher was at the school and Mike and Owen convinced the coach to let me come to practices if I want." I explain.

"Oh, that makes sense." Adam nods.

"Sorry Mike I'm meeting Wes to work on a report for science. I'll see you tomorrow." I say putting my arms around Dallas' neck and kissing him passionately. "Bye Adam." I smile when I break apart from Dallas.

"Later Clare." Adam waves.

Wes is waiting near the door, talking with Dave and Alli. "Ready Wes?" I ask and he nods.

"I wish we could do something besides study at your house." Dave laments to Alli as we all walk outside.

"Jenna is going to Becky's and my mom is meeting her friend for tea so we just might." Alli says in a flirty voice.

"Sweet." Dave smiles.

Wesley's cheeks get red but I just start laughing as I wave goodbye to Dave and Alli. Wes and I walk to the Dot and sit at a table near the window. After ordering we get to work, using his laptop to go online for research. We work until five when it starts to get dark and I decide I should walk home and make myself some dinner. I say goodbye to Wes, put my backpack on and start walking down the street. I only live a few blocks from school and the Dot; I've walked home in the dark before and never once been scared. The streets are well lit and the first two blocks are stores and other businesses, most of which are open late but as I start approaching the drug store this nervous feeling comes over me. I look around but don't see anyone; still I start fishing for my keychain in my backpack so that I have my mace in hand just in case.

Without warning a hand is clamped over my mouth, my backpack is torn off my shoulder and tossed to the ground and I'm pulled backward several steps into the alley behind the closed bakery. For a second I'm too shocked and petrified to react, it doesn't feel real, like a dream or a movie. His other arm comes around my chest pressing me against him, tears start trickling down my cheeks but I'm still frozen, my mind simply refusing to believe this is actually happening. My breathing has stopped but my heart is racing, my chest tight, my whole body tense. His lips caress my cheek and like a ton of bricks I snap into reality, my mind finally accepts that this really is happening. My fight or flight instinct takes over and as flight isn't currently possible I try and fight; trying to struggle but it's no use he simply holds me tighter. Able to breathe again I take deep panicked breaths through my nose and recognize his scent before he ever speaks. Knowing it's Asher and not some stranger only makes me more afraid.

"I told you that you'd pay for spraying me with mace." He says in a low lust filled voice in my ear. "Have you any idea how long I've wanted this Clare?"

My breathing becomes more panicked, tears streaming down my face in two hot, salty rivers. He lets go of my chest and I feel his arm behind me, doing something but now that he's only holding me with one hand I try to break away and run. I've almost managed but his hand moves from behind my back and locks down on my shoulder with a vice like grip. In one swift movement he lets go of my mouth and slams me into the brick wall of the alley. The skin on my forehead making contact with the rough brick, with a cracking thump; there's a moment of overwhelming pain and then nausea and then the world goes black.

I don't know how long I was out but I wake up to more pain, not just in my head but my skin is being bitten by the cold night air and my lower back and butt are screaming in hot, burning, scratching pain. Before my vision even comes back I realize I'm naked and being dragged across the asphalt. My vision slowly starts coming back and I become aware that not only am I being dragged by my hair but I'm gagged, by his belt I assume by the taste of the leather and the stiff feel of it between my lips. I start gagging, coughing, trying to get a decent breath as the smell and taste of the leather overwhelms my other senses. Once I can see again, I try and fight and scream but both prove to be futile. My screaming disappears into his belt and the more I thrash the more my hair gets pulled and the more of my body comes in contact with the rough asphalt both of which only cause me more pain and I'm certain I hear him chuckling in amusement.

When we reach the back of the alley he lets go of my hair and I drop to the ground. My bare back hitting the ground with a slap that softly echoes through the alley. I'm in so much pain, so dizzy and queasy that even though he's no longer holding me I simply don't have the capacity to try and get up to run. I'm crying though, harder than I've ever cried in my life. I'm so incredibly terrified that my mind hardly even works, I'm shaking, my body trembling like crazy but whether that's from the cold or the fear is hard to say. I'm crying so hard it's difficult to see again but I see that we're behind a high pile of what I believe to be wooden crates. It's very dark in the back of the alley, there's some residual light from a street lamp and of course the nearly full moon.

Asher comes in front of me, he's unzipping his pants and I know for sure now that he's going to rape me. My tears come harder, something I didn't think possible. The first thought to take over my mind is Darcy, nothing specific simply an image of her after her rape and it's in no way comforting only making me more terrified. Then images go racing through my mind, not quite my life flashing before my eyes but similar I suppose. In a matter of seconds, as Asher is unzipping his pants and taking them down a little with his underwear, images of Dallas, Eli, Adam, Owen, Alli, Drew, Bianca, Jake, my parents, Jenna, K.C., Connor, Wesley, Dave, Tristan, Maya and Campbell flash into my mind. I might have seen more but Asher kneeled down, forcing my legs apart and leaning over me, supporting himself on one hand while brushing a strand of hair from my face with the other. It's feeling the hair brushed from my face that breaks me from my thoughts.

"You look so beautiful right now Clare." Asher says in a husky, lascivious and yet sadistic voice.

I don't know if it's what he said, the way he said it or my mind and body deciding to take one last attempt at fighting but I raise my hand and slap him with the all the strength my freezing, nauseated, frightened, trembling body can muster. It hits with a smacking sound but doesn't seem to have much of an effect otherwise.

"Still fighting are you? That's what I like about you Newsie, your inner fire. However I just can't have you hitting me. It would kill the mood. Stay here a minute, just to make sure you do though." He comments and then hits me hard in the stomach.

I wasn't prepared for it and it makes it harder to breathe, I feel even more queasy and can feel bile rising in my throat. I'm vaguely aware of the fact that he's walking away, back toward the entrance of the alley. I don't even realize he's returned until I feel him sitting on me, right on my pubic bone, he's using all his weight and it forces my tailbone into the ground and I feel as though I'm being crushed. I hear ripping sounds and when my eyes can focus at all again I see that he's ripping my shirt into shreds. He ties my wrists, together with my palms facing each other, then he ties my arms about midway between the wrists and elbows and then again just before my elbows.

"There now much better and you look so much sexier, bound together. If you're not good this time then next time I might have to bring chains and a whip. Shall we get started? Your still a virgin aren't you Clare? Tight virgin pussy is the best, oh wait one more thing, can't have you getting pregnant now can we?" His tone is oozing with so much avidity and carnal lechery it sends more shivers done my spine.

He pulls a condom from his pants pocket which I notice he's pulled up a little, I assume to walk to the alley entrance. He moves between my legs again and once more pulls his pants to his knees. My vision goes blurry and clouded with tears but I hear him putting on the condom. I try to pray for god to save me, to keep me from going through this like Darcy, only worse because I'm conscious. But I can't. My faith which began to falter when my parents divorced has left me all together, how could god possibly love me and make me go through this?

Asher leans over me again, putting his weight, mostly on his hand again. All at once he's inside of me, thrusting in violently and I scream into his belt. The pain is immense, like nothing I've ever felt before. It's burning and sharp all at once and shoots through my body sending with it a wave of a horribly ill feeling. My body lurches of its own accord and I'm slightly aware that Asher is moaning. He's still for a couple of seconds and then he begins to pull out but slowly and it's horrifically painful. For a brief minute the memory that takes over my mind is my first sexual experience ever that I had with Dallas the other night. Unlike Dallas gently, lovingly bringing me to orgasm with his fingers this is violent, sadistic and cruel. I don't feel good or taken of, I feel dirty, used and ill. In my mind I apologize to Dallas for losing my virginity to Asher raping me instead of to him as it should have been.

"I love you Mike." I say into Asher's belt, the words getting lost in the leather and my tears.

Even as the words leave my mouth, I feel an overwhelming guilt and shame and I'm not entirely sure why. All thought disappears from my mind when Asher digs his palms into my shoulders near my clavicle, forcing my shoulder blades and upper back into the asphalt and I can feel it scraping away my skin. His violent thrusts become increasingly faster and more painful. I feel so horribly nauseas it's a wonder I don't vomit. I can't see through the tears, I can barely breathe between the pain and the choking smell of his leather belt mixing with the suffocating smell of his after shave combined with the smell of his sweat. I am sickenly aware of the fact that he's moaning, loudly and in perverted and cruel pleasure. He begins kissing my neck and I'm suddenly glad he can't kiss my lips.

I'm in a terrible fog, a cloud of overwhelming horrible pain, hideous smells and the abhorrent sounds of his moans. I'm crying so hard it's even more difficult to breathe; I've made two puddles of tears on the ground on either side of my face. Somehow he increases his pace even more; managing to increase my pain which I didn't think was possible. Finally after what feels like forever, although it really was only a short time, he finishes. He falls onto me to catch his breath, his full weight coming down on me and I'm more disgusted to feel his breath on my breast. After a minute he finally gets off of me, standing up taking off the condom and pulling up his pants again.

"That was marvelous, you felt amazing!" He smiles sadistically satisfied, his carnal tone still holds a bit of lust.

I hear him walking away and I manage to turn on my side, curling into a fetal position, as much as I can. I'm shaking so hard, like a never ending shiver. My back burns, smarts everywhere my flesh was ripped away by the ground. My head is throbbing, a horrible sharp pain radiating through it and down my neck. My hips, pelvis, insides and privates are so terribly sore and painful and throbbing. I feel so ill, so in pain, so ashamed and guilty and scared and angry I feel like I might explode from the buildup of emotions. I hear his footsteps approaching again and I feel something land on top of me.

"Get dressed, don't want you getting sick." He says it almost mockingly.

I move slowly but manage to sit up, my crying slows a bit but I'm still restrained. He seems to realize this and kneels to one knee to start untying my arms. My arms are free at last and as much as I'd like to hit him, I'm shaking so badly I can't; besides my arms feel weak and I can't see much through the tears. He takes the scraps of my torn shirt and drops them at my side over the used condom, then takes out a match, strikes it and drops it on the pile.

"Can't leave any evidence behind that would be careless." He says smugly.

I start to reach behind my head to undo his belt but moving my arms is horridly painful. Asher looks away from the flame and looks at me. He reaches around, loosens the belt and pulls it off my head and then drops it on the flame as well. Now that the belt is off I take several deep breaths and then begin dressing again. Every movement is painful; the feel of my bra against the scraped flesh of my back stings and burns even more. I feel my panties sticking to the blood on the torn up flesh of my lower back and buttocks. I pull on my jeans with agonizing difficulty and since he's burning my shirt I pull on my jacket and zip it up. As I struggle to stand Asher stomps out the fire, he takes off his jacket to retrieve the smoldering belt buckle which is the only thing left. Then he looks at me and his eyes are full of malign malevolence, he doesn't look human.

"Keep your mouth shut about this, about everything, or next time I will live out every S&M fantasy I've ever had on you and then I'll go after you're little blonde friend with glasses. I'll take her virginity more violently than I did yours. You understand me?" He inquires in a terrible vile and evil tone.

"_Maya, he's threatening to go after Maya, to rape her! What choice do I have? I can't let him do this to sweet little Maya." _

I can't speak, my voice doesn't work but I manage to nod my head.

"Good girl." He says with a satisfied smile. "I'll see you again soon Clare. We'll have some more fun." He taunts wickedly and then violently grabs my hair, kisses me hard and then shoves me back into the wooden crates behind me.

I land with a loud painful crash and see him walk calmly from the alley. Now that he's gone I'm crying hard again, shaking violently and that ill feeling increases rapidly. I manage to turn on my side just as I vomit into the pile of broken timber. My mind is dark and clouded and I can't seem to hold a thought in my head, I'm going mostly on instinct at this point. In an agonizing effort I manage to climb out of the pile of broken crates. The shock of the cold ground hitting my bare feet sends a shiver through my body which is an odd sensation given that my body is already shaking. My body and mind are so horribly afflicted with pain and so chaotic with so many emotions I can't even name them all.

I start walking in an instinctual sort of drive to get home and shower as I feel monstrously dirty. Near the entrance to the alley I find my shoes and slip them on. My home is little more than a block away but the walk seems to take forever. I'm moving slow, shaking, nauseas and convoluted with so many raging emotions. When I finally reach my front door the house is dark, everyone's still out and I'm immensely grateful for this. I don't want anyone to see me like this. No one can ever know, not just because Asher threatened me and Maya but I could never tell anyone, it's too shameful, degrading and embarrassing. No one could understand, not even Darcy. We may have both been raped but they were not even remotely similar, you can't compare them. When I unlock my front door and go into the kitchen I see that it's not even 5:45, all of what just happened felt like an eternity but it was less than forty five minutes.

I run up to the washroom turn on the shower and peel out of my clothing. I step into the warm water and shriek in pain as it hits my scraped nerve endings and torn flesh. I turn around to put my front in the water stream but everything still stings and smarts and burns like crazy. I can't cry anymore, I cried all my tears out; the motions of crying remain however. I let the water wash over my front and turn around one more time to quickly wash my open wounds but I can only stand the sting of the water for a few seconds. Turning off the water and stepping out the shower I grab my towel. I was only in the shower a couple minutes so the washroom didn't have time to fill with steam and the mirror has barely begun to fog.

I turn around to look at my wounds; my lower back from the top of my tail bone, down my butt cheeks and a few inches down the back of my thighs is completely scratched up. Road rash would be the best term I suppose, my skin is all scratched off in this area and I'm bleeding, my nerves and flesh exposed. My upper back around my shoulder blades is pretty much the same. I can see red marks along my lower jaw from his belt, symmetrical red marks, developing bruises just below my shoulders from where his palms dug in and another on my right shoulder where he grabbed me. On the left side of my forehead, just above my temple is a bump, from hitting the wall. I see a few more red marks that look like they may turn into bruises, I assume from hitting the crates and lastly a developing bruise on my stomach where he punched me.

Seeing all the physical injuries brings everything else back in a torrent and I sink to the cold tile floor in tears. I'm not sure how long I sat there, naked, wet, in pain and crying. Eventually the tears slowed and I got up but I didn't really dry off, just grab a couple aspirin and went to my room. I pulled out fresh clothes, panties, my most comfortable bra and my grey sweats with matching hoodie. Getting dressed is a slow process, as much from the pain as from how hard I'm crying. By the time I get my socks and laceless sneakers on I hear Jake come in. I grab my purse out of my backpack, turn off the light in my room, sneak into the washroom and grab my other clothes hiding behind the door as I hear him go into his room. I go downstairs and out the back door, when I'm on the street and a few houses down I send Jake a text.

**Alli had a huge fight with Dave sleeping at her place, tell my Mom**

I start wandering aimlessly down the street as I have no idea where to go, dumping my clothes in the first trashcan I come across as I never want to see or wear them or see them again. I can't sleep outside it's too cold but where can I go? I can't go to Dallas, I couldn't even look at him right now, nor do I want him or anyone else to see me like this and that leaves out Adam's house, Alli's and Eli's. I need to go somewhere safe but somewhere they won't ask questions and I can really one think of one possible option. I've been to his house a few times and his bedroom window doesn't lock and is easy to get into, I remember him telling me he had to sneak in once, the only time he lied to his parents. We're friends but he won't ask a bunch of questions and will most likely take anything I tell him at face value. Thankfully he only lives a block from me, even as slow as I'm moving it only takes me ten minutes to walk there I do regret not bringing a coat as one thin sweatshirt isn't enough to protect me from the chilly winter night.

The lights are on in his living room, his parents are home which is actually comforting, I go through the back gate easily locating his bedroom window. It slides open without trouble and I step on the external spigot to climb in, biting my lip to keep from screaming, from the movement and the feel of the fabric rubbing against my open wounds is terrible and painful. Shutting the window behind me, I tip toe across the room and close his bedroom door. I feel a slight semblance of safety now, feeling finally like Asher can't find me here. I didn't even feel safe at my own house, it doesn't hurt that his dad is right down the hall and a cop. Suddenly the stress of it all hits me and I become overwhelmingly exhausted, I slip my shoes off, lay down on his bed curling on my side with my back toward the door, covering myself with the throw blanket at the foot of his bed and pass out as soon as my eyes close.

**(DAVE)**

"Hi Mom, Hi Dad." I greet my parents as I enter the house and lock the door again.

"Hi sweetie how was studying at Alli's?" Mom asks.

I smile a little as studying turned into sexy time as soon as her Mother left. "Great."

"If you're hungry there's supper on the stove." Mom says.

"Cool I'm starved, just gonna put my backpack in my room." I say and then walk down the hall to my room.

My bedroom door is closed which is odd since I don't remember closing it when I left for school this morning. I open my door drop my backpack near the entry, turn and start closing my door again and then I stop; it suddenly hits me that there was someone lying on my bed! I turn again and slowly open my door all the way, whoever it is they're sleeping as evidenced by their deep rhythmic breathing. I'm about to turn on my light to see just who it is but I don't have to; when the light in the hall hits her cinnamon colored curls I know just who it is. Only one person I know has hair like that, it's Clare! I see that she's lying on the covers, not even using a pillow and covered only by my throw blanket. I go out to the closet and pull out one of our spare blankets and cover her with it before quietly closing my bedroom door again.

"Well that was unexpected." I muse aloud as I step into the washroom, close the door and pull out my phone.

"Hey miss me already?" Alli's sexy voice coos over the phone and I smile just hearing her voice.

"I always miss you when I'm not with you gorgeous but that's not why I called. Clare's here, asleep on my bed." I tell her.

"What?" Is her only reply.

"She's on top of my bed and fully dressed, I'll sleep in the guest room don't worry." I assure her.

"I'm not, not about that I trust you and her. I'm worried about Clare, why would she go to your house?" Alli questions.

"Honestly I don't know, she didn't call you? Did she get in a fight with her Mom or Dallas?" I ask.

"I haven't talked to Clare since we left school." Alli tells me.

"Well I don't want to wake her up; if she's asleep this early she must be very tired. She must have come here for a reason right? I'll ask her in the morning but I'll call you if anything happens." I tell her.

"Okay thanks Dave. Take care of her, that's my best friend." Alli insists and I hear the worry in her voice get more urgent.

"I will, goodnight Alli." I say and then hang up.

I go out to the kitchen and get some dinner while I wonder what in the world would bring Clare to my house of all places.

**(CLARE)**

It's barely dawn when I wake up, sitting up with a jolt and a gasp, I blink my bleary eyes and rub them. My surroundings come into focus and for just a minute I'm confused and then it all comes back to me; the events of the previous night, where I am, why I came here. I start trembling and I can't stop, the fear, anger, shame and every other emotion rolling back over me and I swallow hard to keep from screaming out. I need to get out of here, I notice now there's another blanket covering me, I'm assuming Dave put on me, because his parents would have woken me up. I stand up and bite my tongue to keep from screaming, I thought my pelvis, hips and privates were sore last night, now they are sore and senstive. I put my shoes back on and leave through the window to avoid any chance of being seen. My abrasions are beginning to heal and they hurt even worse, my bruises have fully developed now and they're all smarting. My head is the worse, throbbing and with a shooting pain. I take the long way to school to avoid passing the alley, that horrible alley where my innocence and virginity were robbed from me last night.

Even though I'm walking so slowly when I get to school it's still locked up but I catch sight of my reflection in the window. All the walking has at the very least stopped me from shaking; I pull out my compact mirror and small brush I keep in my purse. I brush my hair so its no longer disheveled and fix my bangs so that they cover the bump on my forehead. I feel empty in a way and yet I have so much emotion churning inside but no more tears to cry. I see someone approaching and I turn around quickly as my irrational terrified mind thinks Asher is coming for me again. It isn't Asher though only Principal Simpson and I let out a relieved breath.

"You're here early Clare." He says.

"Yes sir I have a report to finish." I lie and as it's the first time I've spoken aloud since before…it happened my voice sounds so strange, small and strained and far away.

"Well come on in." He says unlocking the door and ushering me inside.

I go into the school and Principal Simpson walks away to his office. I wait until he's in and duck into the nurse's office, opening the cabinet with medicines and take out a couple of aspirin. I have hours before anyone else gets here and no idea what to do, I'm not even sure I should be at school but I can't go home and sooner or later I have to see Dallas and everyone else. I start wandering the halls, my mind is blank it's like its stopped working, it's not just the pain I'm in I just can't seem to think. A few fleeting thoughts pass through the back of my mind but that's it. It's like walking through a haze, like I'm coming out of a dream only it's not a dream, it's all real terribly real. How can I feel so vacant and so bubbling with emotion and pain at the same time? I begin exploring every inch of the school, meandering through the halls as I have nothing else to do, nor the capacity.

**(DALLAS)**

I was standing by my locker talking with Luke suddenly he point behind me.

"That's a new look for your girlfriend isn't it?" He comments.

I scowl at him and turn to look, he is right though, she's wearing grey sweats and a grey hoodie with sneakers. She looks odd, sort of lost in thought I guess. She doesn't seem to even see us until she's right in front of us but then she stops and kind of smiles.

"Good morning Princess," I greet, putting my hand on her back and bringing her to me, I lean down to kiss her but she turns her head and I catch her cheek. "You okay Princess?" I ask.

She pulls out of my arms and looks at the floor. "Fine I just didn't sleep well, I have to go find Alli, excuse me." She says slowly and sounds odd, then she practically runs down the hall.

"I don't think she likes you anymore dude. She wouldn't let you kiss her; she sort of winced and looked disgusted when you touched her. Maybe she's seeing someone else and that's why she didn't come to practice yesterday." Luke says putting a hand on my shoulder.

I'm sure he's wrong and Asher must have done something to her but why wouldn't she tell me? Luke knows nothing about Asher but she could have asked to talk to me alone. Maybe she talked to Adam or Eli, I walk away to find them ignoring Luke as he asks me where I'm going. I find both Adam and Eli at their lockers just as I thought they would be.

"Hey you guys seen Clare this morning?" I inquire and they both turn to look at me.

"No, not yet she's here somewhere I saw Jake." Eli says.

"She is I saw her, something's wrong I think Asher did something. She wouldn't let me kiss her and she ran off. She's wearing only sweats, no jacket and…" I'm cut off by both of them.

"Sweats!" They say in unison.

"Clare doesn't wear sweats; I mean I've never seen her wear them, not to school." Adam tells me.

"I've never seen her wear them at all, aside from a hoodie on occasion." Eli adds.

"I'll check with Owen and Bianca, Adam ask her in class." I tell them and walk off pulling out my phone to text Owen and Bianca.

**(CLARE)**

Sitting in the wooden desk chairs hurt like a bitch but considering how ashamed I feel I think I deserve the pain. Seeing Dallas was worse than I thought it would be, so much worse. For one thing I do in fact love him I realize and this revelation only makes what happened last night that much more terrible and tragic. I had ot force a smile on my face when I saw him or burst into tears and he can never know. Never. I feel like I betrayed him, like I took something from him. Yet I couldn't let him kiss me, I couldn't look at him, I didn't even want him to touch me and I don't really know why. I feel like a horrible girlfriend, like a horrible person. I'm so involved in self-loathing I don't even notice Alli coming into class.

"There you are I've been looking for you all morning!" Alli exclaims, sitting down at her desk but leaning on mine. "Why are you dressed like that? Are you okay? Why'd you sleep at Dave's?" She inquires in basically one breath.

"I'm sorry, are you mad, nothing happened Alli…" she cuts me off.

"Clare I'm not mad, just worried what's wrong?" She asks concerned.

"Oh." I say biting my lip and looking at my nails, never meeting her eyes as I wonder what to tell her. "I had a fight with my mom and...just didn't want to talk about it and I wanted to go somewhere she wouldn't come looking for me." I lie.

I can feel tears coming to my eyes and a flood of emotion as it all comes rushing to the forefront of my mind. The thought of staying in school suddenly becomes overwhelming and I get up from my desk.

"Clare where are you going?" Alli asks.

"I have a headache, going to the nurse." I tell her, doing my best to keep my voice even as I can.

I run out through the side entrance, I've escaped through twice before now. I hear the warning bell ring just as I get outside. It occurs to me suddenly, for no reason in particular, that I left my backpack at home. Now where to go? I don't want to go home; Glen and my Mom often stop at home if they don't have busy days. Can't go to the Dot, too much of a chance I might see someone I know. There is one place near the school I could go where I probably won't run into anyone I know. I've only been there once, in grade nine but I know the way.

I may not have been here since grade nine but the ravine never changes. There are only two kids there, a couple by the looks of it, I'm fairly certain they attend DeGrassi but I don't know them. They're too busy making out to acknowledge me which is perfect. Since the whole of my backside stings like hell I go to the ripped out car seat and curl up on my side. Staring blankly into the fire pit with no fire going, but now I'm thinking again I can't stop and I begin crying all over again. I turn over so the couple can't see me if they ever decide to come up for air and start sobbing near hysterics.

**OMG poor Clare! DOn't start ranting at me that Ahser needs to die please I know he does and there is a plan. Be patient!**

**Update soon when someone finds out**

**Thanks to tomfeltonlover1991 for the idea of Asher controlling Clare by threatening Maya**


	23. Ocasionally Crazy

**I Do Not Own Degrassi**

**It's not as sad as the last chapter I promise,a**** bit long though**

**Thanks for all the reviews**

**Ch. 23 Occasionally Crazy**

**(CLARE)**

The sudden ringing of my phone startles me; I sit up keeping my back to the couple still making out and wiping my slowing tears from my face. I pull the phone from my purse to see Adam's name and happy smiling face flashing on the display. I take a deep breath and swallow hard silently willing myself to keep my voice calm and steady.

"Hey Adam." I say trying to put an air of lightness in my voice, it doesn't work and I'm glad he can't see me through the phone.

"Where are you? Alli said you went to the nurse because you had a headache but the nurse said she hasn't seen you!" His tone is worried but has a scolding edge to it.

"I wasn't feeling well and just came home. I'm fine, I just need to rest." I insist and my voice falters despite my best efforts.

"Clare what's wrong? According to Dave you were asleep, at his house by seven last night! Why didn't you come to my place after your fight with your Mom? You know we would have hidden you from my parents and don't you always feel better sleeping with Dallas?!" His tone is only strained with worry now and I hear Dave and Alli in the background.

The mention of Dallas' name sends a rush of guilt and shame through me for reasons I can't explain. It also makes it impossible to hold back the tears any longer and they start rolling down my cheeks again. I feel a swell of emotion all mixing together like some internal tumultuous cookie dough, a little of this, a little of that, mix it all together in one Clare, let bake for several hours and watch as I explode! I want to scream and cry and hit something! At the same time I want to run, run to Dallas and have him hold me and tell me everything will be okay, run to Adam and Eli and have them make it better, make me laugh; run to Alli so she can stroke my hair and hug me and tell me she's there for whatever I need.

I also want to just plain run, run away and never look back start a new life where no one knows me, where no one will ever find out what happened and I realize for the first time I'm deathly afraid of not just Dallas but my friends and family finding out. Not just because of Asher's threats to me and Maya but I feel so ashamed, dirty, degraded, used, broken, defiled and less than human. I'm afraid that Dallas and everyone else is going to reject me, to turn away from me. I'm terrified that Dallas will not be able to look at me, let alone be able to kiss me, touch me or be with me knowing I was taken by someone else, scared that everyone else will see me as I know see me, dirty and damaged.

"I just didn't want to talk about the fight and I knew you and Mike would ask questions." I choke out.

"Clare what's wrong? I know something else is…" Adam begins but I cut him off.

"I just don't feel well Adam I have to go." I snap into the phone and hang up on him before he can ask any further questions.

I turn off my phone so no one else can call and slip it back into my purse. Now that I'm crying again the couple seems to take notice of me.

"Hey sad girl you want a beer or pot or something?" The girl asks.

"No thanks." I say keeping my back to them.

A couple minutes later I hear walking and the sound of the van door opening leaving me alone by the fire. The feeling of being totally alone however starts making me feel anxious and suddenly I feel like Asher is watching me, I'm sure he has no idea where the ravine is but it doesn't matter I need to get out of here but go where? I can't go back to school and I don't want to go home, too much chance of Mom or Glen coming home and I don't feel safe at home because Asher knows where I live. The mall opens soon but that's no good, for one Asher has attacked me in the mall before, two Drew works there and he'd see me and three even if I avoid the food court and Drew's kiosk all together there are too many people at the mall and I know I must look like a wreck. I consider sneaking back to Dave's house but his mom is probably home and she might find me in his room. The Dot is too close to school and has too many people…but wait Above the Dot, why didn't I think of it before? No one will be in the club this early and I happen to know where they keep the spare key; a benefit of my older sister having dated the boy who opened it and him thinking of me as a little sister.

I sit up and look around, aside from the creaking of the van as it rocks and the crackling of the fire the ravine is silent and serene and it's quite eerie at the moment. I grab my purse and straighten up, my back burns, my bruises smart, my hips and pelvis scream in pain as I put pressure on them from sitting upright. My head is throbbing again from all the crying but I don't have any more aspirin and couldn't take any more just yet even if I did. Walking to the Dot is fairly slow, moving is just too painful. I go around to the back of the cafe, to the alley, freezing a minute and catching my breath in my throat as it reminds me of another alley. After a couple of deep breaths I go through the door to the food storage area, I move the giant can of coffee out of the way and take the key from the hook on the wall putting the can back in place. No one will notice its gone since it's the spare key, out the back door again without being seen by the kitchen staff and I make my way up the stairs to the club, slip the key in the lock and the door opens with a squeak. I go into the dark club and close and lock the door, I flip on one light so I don't trip but the dark is almost comforting in an odd way. I go to the stage and using my arm as a pillow lie down and let the tears come and my mind wander, no use in trying to stop it. No matter what I do inevitably the thoughts and memories take my mind over again.

**(ADAM)**

Clare hangs up abruptly and I take the phone from my ear and stare at it.

"What did she say?" Alli asks from beside me.

"She said she didn't feel well and just went home." I say slowly, I'm still looking at my phone like I expect her to call back and explain to me what's really going on.

"You don't sound or look like you believe her." Dave states, he's holding Alli and we're all concerned.

I was worried after Dallas told me and Eli she was wearing nothing but sweats. I got more worried after talking to Alli to find out that not only had she left class abruptly saying she had a headache but she slept, of all places, at Dave's last night. I mean Dave is her friend too but I found out from him he didn't even know she was there until he got home and found her asleep on his bed and none of this behavior is like Clare.

"She sounded upset, not sick. She sounded like she was crying and I'm pretty sure I heard a fire in the background, her house doesn't have a fireplace." I tell them.

Just as I'm thinking of going to look for her the bell rings and Dave puts a hand at my back.

"Come on we have class, we can find Eli and Dallas at break and talk to them." Dave says to me.

He kisses Alli and we walk to math class, I'm really not paying attention though. I'm watching the clock waiting for the bell to ring for break and trying not to imagine what's wrong with Clare as nothing that comes into my mind is a possibility I want to think about. I'm ready to leave class before the bell even rings and the second it does I run out, I hear Dave calling to wait up but I don't; he catches up to me anyway. I head to Miss Dawes grade 12 English class and grab Eli's sleeve pulling him with me as I head toward Dallas' locker.

"What's wrong? What did Clare say?" He asks falling into step with me and I let go of his sleeve.

Alli and Jenna join us; I assume Alli told Jenna everything she knows as Jenna has the same worried look on her face. Dallas is at his locker with Owen and Bianca but Luke is at his locker as well which is right next to Dallas'.

"Her phone is off, did you talk to her? Where is she?" Dallas asks in one breath.

Luke looks at us all; it doesn't take much to surmise we're all worried about Clare. "What's wrong with Clare?" Luke questions.

I tell them about my phone call with her and hearing the fire in the background and how she sounded upset. Alli tells them what Clare said to her this morning and Dave informs everyone that she slept at his place last night. I can tell that all of us that know about Asher think whatever it is it has to do with him but if it does have to do with him why didn't she just tell us. I mean she didn't tell any of us anything at first but once we all knew it only took a little prodding for her to tell us when he'd done or said something. Plus every time he did something she wanted to be at my house and with Dallas and now she's avoiding us, not just us but Eli and Alli too.

"We could go to her house, check on her." Owen says, he sounds terribly worried.

"Class starts in five minutes, there's no time." Luke points out.

Eli, Dallas and I all start talking at once arguing that we'd rather know she's safe than go to class.

"GUYS!" Bianca snaps and we all fall silent and look at her. "Drew doesn't have to be at work for an hour, I was going to call him anyway to tell him what's going on. He can go to her house and if she's not there we'll go looking for her at lunch." She tells us.

I'd rather go looking for her now and I can tell by the looks on Dallas and Eli's faces they would too but we all nod. Bianca gets out her phone to call Drew and we all start walking to our next class. After class Dallas finds me and he looks worse than before.

"Drew went to her house and no one answered the door or the phone. I have free period right now so I'm going to start looking for her." He tells me.

"I'm going with you; I don't need to go to history." I insist and he nods.

After a few texts it's worked out that Eli is coming with us and ditching math. Owen and Bianca will take his SUV and Dave will take Jenna and Alli at lunch to help us look. We start at the Dot but she's not there and no one has seen her, we go to her house but no one answers, her curtains are drawn so there is a possibility she's asleep or maybe in the shower but a sinking feeling in my stomach tells me that's not it. We go to my house and Eli's just in case, the mall and then we just start driving around randomly but there's no sign of her by the time we have to head back to school. I'm worried sick, feel helpless and lost and don't know what to do next. When we get back the others look as despondent as we do and we know no one has found her or even heard from her.

**(CLARE)**

All the crying or emotional exhaustion or possibly both was enough for me to fall asleep again. When I wake up some time later I'm now stiff and sore on top of being in pain since I fell asleep on the hard wooden stage. As there's no windows or clock up here I have to turn on my phone to get the time and I have 12 missed calls, 4 from Dallas, 1 from Adam, 2 from Eli, 1 from Owen, 1 from Bianca, 1 from Drew, 1 from Alli and 1 from Jenna. I also have a multitude of texts from them and Dave asking me where I am and what's wrong since they came to the house and no one answered the door or the phone. I don't want to deal with them or talk to them right now, I'm consumed with pain and discomfort and all those feeling have come flooding back now that I'm conscious. But if I don't do something they're probably going to report me as a missing person or worse call my mom so I force myself to send a group text to all of them.

**Sorry was sleeping. Still not feeling well going back to sleep. Turning off phone again. Don't worry.**

Before I do turn off my phone I take note of the time, it's after two in the afternoon, school will be out soon so as much as I don't want to I decide to go home. Moving hurts, actually breathing hurts and my head is throbbing again I actually do feel like vomiting. I make it downstairs and put the key back where it belongs without being seen. As agonizing as it is to do so I run all the way home, not looking at that horrible alley or anything for that matter, just running as fast as I can. When I get home and in the house I slam the door shut behind me and lock it. Even though I wasn't attacked in my house it no longer feels safe the way your home should. I can't explain it really; it just feels vulnerable, almost like I'm being watched even though I know I'm not. Once I've caught my breath again after all that running I go upstairs and promptly vomit in the toilet, the only thing that comes out is bile as I haven't eaten since before I was attacked. Thinking about it makes me vomit again. I get up slowly, not just from the pain but running and vomiting has made me feel weak.

I take the bottle of aspirin from the medicine cabinet, dispense three tablets from the bottle into my hand and bring the bottle into my room. I have to go downstairs to get water, swallow the aspirin and go up to my room, locking the door, changing into my oversized night shirt and taking off my bra and underwear as they keep irritating the raw flesh on my back. I get in bed and turn on my side as lying on my back hurts too much. The silence quickly becomes deafening and I turn on my radio, to have some noise. My light is off and my blinds closed but I can see a little, I'm really not looking at anything anyway, just sort of staring at one of the few blank spots on my wall. I'm not crying, mostly because my body seems to be incapable of producing tears right now. My mind won't shut the hell up though, it just keeps going and I can't seem to think about anything even remotely happy. No matter what I try and think about my mind keeps coming back to Asher, the rape, or Dallas and my friends. Thinking about Dallas and my friends should make me happy but not anymore, I just feel demeaned, dirty, defiled and damaged. I'm drawn out of my thoughts by a sudden knocking on my door.

"Clare you okay? Dallas, Eli and Adam said you came home sick." Jake's troubled voice reverberates through my bedroom door.

"I'm not feeling well. I told them that." I reply trying not to sound annoyed, or sad.

"Do you need anything?" Jake asks.

"Just rest." I reply.

He lingers outside my door a moment and then walks to his room. When my mom comes home I hear Jake tell her I'm not feeling well and when she knocks on my door I pretend to be sleeping. I don't move except to take more aspirin when it's safe to do so. Eventually I do fall asleep sometime after nightfall, but I don't sleep very well or very long, waking up after a nightmare, a horrible nightmare. It's barely one in the morning but at least my family's asleep so I can emerge from my room without being seen. I grab my bottle of aspirin and go downstairs; the house is unearthly quiet and dark so I flip on the light in the living room. I feel so empty, ghostlike and somehow so full, emotions and thoughts filling me up and churning about, I'm living, functioning still but I'm sort of just going on instinct. I sit on the sofa and turn on the TV, mostly from lack of anything else to fill the time, I'm not really watching though.

When I see the sun start to come up I realize how drained I feel. I can't stay home though if Mom thinks I'm sick again she'll want to see me and she's bound to see the bump on my head if nothing else. That would just lead to questions and currently I have no answer to give her. I go back upstairs, bringing with me my bottle of aspirin which I stow in my purse as the thought of carrying my backpack all day sounds too painful. I change my clothes, into a pair of black yoga pants I wear for lounging around the house and a loose purple shirt that again I only wear around the house. I have to wear under garments but it's painful to do so, and my white flats and I fix my bangs so the bump isn't visible. Leaving a note for my mom that I feel better and went to school early to catch up on homework and then I leave, walking to school the long way again.

I think I'm losing my mind as the only thing I can think of on the way to school is how much more my back hurts now that it's starting scab over. When I get to school Officer Turner lets me in and I start to head to the library but I can't think well enough to hold a rational thought in my head and I don't want to sit in a plastic chair longer than necessary, so instead I go to the storage room and lay down on the sofa. It isn't until I hear the first bell that I get up, I didn't realize that much time had passed, I was so lost in my head. As I go out into the hall I feel like everyone's watching me, they aren't but I feel that way. Honestly I kinda feel like I'm on the outside watching myself, a little like Alice in Alice Through the Looking Glass when she's watching herself in the mirror from Looking Glass Land. Yes that's it I must be in Looking Glass Land that's why everything is so backwards, I just need to find the mirror and get back and everything will be set right again…did I mention I'm losing my mind?

It occurs to me as I'm walking to class that not only did I not bring my backpack but I left all my books in my backpack in my room, except the ones in my locker. Since I do happen to have my book for Miss Oh's class in there, I go to my locker first. When I reach it though I just stand there, staring at the lock as I've forgotten my locker combination. I can't cry anymore, my body isn't making tears I feel like I might burst out laughing though because of the absurdity of it all before I do a voice stops me.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you! You know your phones still off? Are you feeling better? Clare?" It's Dallas, standing next to me, but I can't quite bring myself to look at him or respond to him. I just stand there staring at the lock like it will open if I stare at it long enough. "Clare what's going on? Princess talk to me please!" His tone is both pleading and demanding but it's his hand on my shoulder that snaps me out of staring at my lock.

I jump a little and look at him, meeting his eyes for brief second. Seeing his eyes hurts almost more than anything. I want to tell him I love him but I can't; the words are screaming themselves in my brain over and over and over but they never make it out of my mouth. What finally does make it out sounds terribly pathetic.

"I…I have to…to get to class." I choke out, my voice sounds so strained and small and far away. It doesn't sound remotely like my voice. Maybe this is Looking Glass Land and that's why I sound so strange, I think as I turn to start walking.

"Clare; Princess wait talk to me. Tell me what's going on." He requests catching my hand and holding me with just enough strength to keep me from walking but I still have my back to him. "Did Asher do something?" He asks.

I can't tell him obviously, Asher would hurt me again and hurt Maya and worse Dallas will discard me. "No." The word drops from my lips like a dead weight and I'm glad he's not looking at my face or he'd see that my eyes are tightly shut trying to hold back the tears, which won't come.

"Did…did I do something?" He questions slowly.

I bite my lip and swallow hard, I hate hurting him but I don't know what to do. I turn a little afraid to meet his eyes so I settle for looking at the logo on his Ice Hounds jacket. "No why would you think that?" I ask doing everything I can to keep my voice calm and even, it doesn't work very well and my voice still doesn't sound like mine.

"You won't talk to me, or look at me, you wouldn't let me kiss you yesterday what am I supposed to think Clare?!" He's kind of yelling at this point and I feel like I might lose it, that tumultuous emotional cookie dough has been baking inside me for a while.

"I wasn't feeling well that's all." I insist quietly.

Using every last ounce of strength and will power I have I reach up and kiss his cheek. He releases my hand and I run to Miss Oh's class several minutes late.

"Well glad you could make it today Clare. Alli and Adam told me you went home sick yesterday but you will have to make up the homework. I won't send you to Simpson for being late without a late slip this once but next time it will mean detention clear?" Miss Oh asks in a stern voice and I manage to nod. "Where's your books and backpack?" She inquires.

"I forgot them." I say quietly and half the class starts laughing.

Miss Oh gives me a quizzical and concerned look but goes back to teaching. I walk to my desk and sit down with sharp hiss as the hard chair hits my flesh scraped raw. I can feel Adam and Alli's eyes on me but I refuse to look at them. As soon as class ends however they both start in with the questions.

"What's wrong Clare?" Alli inquires.

"You don't look well are you feeling okay? You look tired I thought you slept all day yesterday?" Adam asks.

"I'm fine; I need to go to drama class." I tell them both but I can't seem to get a smile on my face. My mouth doesn't seem to remember how.

I walk out with them on my heels and they follow me all the way to drama class. I wait until they walk away and I leave the classroom, I head back for the storage room my plan was to stay in there until after morning break but when I open the door a little I see Ice Hounds jackets, behind the stacked tables and I can hear Luke talking so I quickly close the door. I go out through my escape door, I'm officially calling it that since I've used it to escape the school four times now, maybe I'll put up a little sign above it reading: **Clare's Escape Door**. I am losing my mind, now I'm sure of it. The bright outdoor sun makes me squint and turn away; I find solace in the shadow of the building sinking down and bringing my knees to my chest. I don't have it in me to cry but I lay my head down and close my eyes, everything hurts too much to really think, everything inside and outside hurts. My back, my head, my shoulders, my stomach, the back of my thighs, my whole lower torso and worst of all my heart, they all hurt worse than any pain I've ever felt.

"Clare? Are you okay? Why aren't you in class?" Dave asks in a soft but worried tone.

"I…I'm fine…I should…should get back." I mumble feeling suddenly lightheaded and weak as I look up at him.

This may have something to do with the fact that I haven't eaten in roughly forty hours and if my mind could hold a steady thought currently it would have realized that trying to stand up quickly wasn't the smartest idea. I stand up to start walking and get terribly dizzy and woozy and nearly fall to the ground again.

"Whoa!" Dave exclaims catching me before I hit the ground.

The problem is he catches me with his arms around my lower back, where all my skin and a thin layer of flesh was grated off by the asphalt.

"OWWWWW!" I cry out in a loud shriek that turns into a distressed whimper.

When my face relaxes after being contorted in pain and I look back at Dave he's giving me the most aghast face I've ever seen. He very gently guides me back to the ground and lets go of me but now he's sitting in front of me. I look at the ground really not sure what to tell him. He brushes my bangs back and I hear a tiny gasp from the back of his throat and know he saw the bruised bump. He moves a little and I know he's about to lift my shirt to look at my back but I don't stop him, I know I should because I can't explain it but he's already seen the bump on my head and I can't explain that either. So I just keep staring at the ground and bite my lip as he gently lifts my shirt a bit.

"Clare! What the hell happened?!" He demands sitting in front of me again.

"I….fell." I lie but it's a pathetic attempt and I can tell he doesn't believe me.

"You fell?! On your back and your head at the same time?!" He says in a dubious tone.

"Y…yes." I nod, squeezing my eyes shut as I feel like crying again but no tears will come of course.

"Clare your back looks like raw ground hamburger and that bump on your head looks really bad! Have you even been to a doctor?" He questions, his voice is somehow anxious, worried and scolding all at once.

"No I don't need to I'm fine." I insist actually managing a determined and steely tone.

"No you're not! You need to go to the doctor you almost passed out just now, you could have a head injury and you definitely have to get your back looked at! Come on I'll take you to the emergency clinic." He says taking my hand and trying to pull me up but I yank my hand away.

"NO! I can't go; no one can know…I…can't." I choke out in a whimper and somehow manage to cry without any tears.

"No one can know what? Clare what happened to you?" Dave asks in a soft sort of lulling voice but I just shake my head and put it down again. "Clare you can tell me what happened or I can go get Dallas out of class and you can explain to him why you need to go to the doctor." Dave says in an austere tone but I stay with my head down and he sighs and I can see him standing. "Okay then I'm going to get Dallas." He tells me.

I look up and grab his arm. "Dave no please, you can't get Dallas." I plead with him.

"Then tell me what happened Clare." He orders sitting in front of me once more.

I bite my lip and look at my hands. "Okay but you can't tell anyone else. I mean it Dave, not Alli or Adam or Dallas not another living soul. Promise me or I'm not going to tell you a thing." I behest.

"I promise okay my lips are sealed I won't tell anyone else." He assures me.

"Swear to me; swear on your love for Alli." I insist as I really don't even want to tell him.

"I swear on my love for Alli not to repeat to anyone ever what your about to tell me alright? Now Clare what the hell happened?" He queries.

"I…I was…raped!" The last word leaves my mouth like bitter poison and barley comes out in a whisper. The mere act of saying it sends a wave of pain and new flood of emotion through me.

I know Dave heard me though as he's entirely frozen like a statue, he doesn't even seem to be breathing. Finally he lets out a deep exhale his hand comes to my arm and I know he's looking at me but I can't look at him.

"Clare you…" he starts and then stops seeming to decide he doesn't want to say it. There's a minute of silence and then he speaks again. "When?" Is all he asks.

"Monday night." I tell him.

"Wait that's why you came to my house?! You didn't have a fight with your mom you were…why didn't say anything? Talk to my dad?" He inquires.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to I couldn't." I tell him.

"Yeah but Clare you're obviously hurt and you could have other injuries or be pregnant or…" he starts lecturing and I cut him off.

"He wore a condom, said he didn't want me getting pregnant." I inform him and I'm getting upset.

"Fine but you're still hurt, so let's go, you're going to the doctor." He commands, taking my arms and helping me stand.

"Dave no one can know I shouldn't have even told you. He said if I told anyone he'd come back and make it worse. If we go to the doctor or the emergency clinic they'll call my parents." I'm starting to sound hysterical; my voice gets really high and squeaky.

"I'll take you to the free clinic then. I remember my dad saying it was anonymous and anyone over sixteen didn't have to notify their parents as long as it wasn't life threatening but Clare you need to get checked out please. You're badly hurt, you almost passed out and even if he wore a condom you could have injuries inside." Dave says in a commanding tone but with a pleading edge.

"Will you stay with me?" I request as the thought of being looked at by a strange doctor after my ordeal sounds like a terrifying prospect.

"The whole time I promise, come on we can go around the baseball field to the parking lot." Dave says. I start to walk but I'm wobbly so Dave links his arm with mine to help support me. As we're walking he pulls out his cell to call someone. "Hey Connor I'm…I have something I have to do can you grab my backpack from Coach Armstrong's class and put it in my locker? I'll be back by the end of lunch." Dave says. I hear Connor reply and Dave says thanks and hangs up.

We reach his car, get in, buckle and he starts driving and I start to see lights dance in front of my eyes and feel very oddly serene.

"I think I may pass out." I warn him.

"When did you last eat?" He asks me.

"Before I was…before the…before it happened." I admit.

"Jesus Clare no wonder you might almost passed out." He admonishes.

"I wasn't hungry." I reply.

He stops in front of the Dot. "Stay in the damn car I'll be back in a second." He instructs. He returns a minute later with grape juice and a scone and hands them to me. "At least drink the juice you need some blood sugar." He orders.

I start drinking the juice, normally I like grape juice but it doesn't taste good right now. I drink a few sips and nibble a couple bites from the scone before we arrive at the clinic. He helps me out of the car and brings the juice in with us. He sits me in a chair, hard and plastic and I wince as I sit down, he signs me in and gets an admission form. He's able to fill most of it out without asking me any questions; he does insist I drink more juice though. It takes nearly an hour for me to get seen and I manage to finish all of the juice by then. We're shown back to a little exam room and I lay on the exam table as I'm tired of sitting.

A nurse takes my vitals and I have super low blood pressure but after Dave tells her I haven't eaten in over forty hours, aside from the juice and few nibbles of scone, she understands. She leaves the room and returns with one of those bottled protein drinks that always taste like chalk to me but after she tells me I can either drink it or get hooked up to an IV I drink it, forcing myself to gulp it down in as few sips as possible. She takes my blood pressure again and seems satisfied with it and then the doctor comes in. He looks at my chart and asks if I've contacted the police and I shake my head. To my relief he says he can't force me too if I don't want to but he spends five minutes trying to convince me it's the best thing to do. When I start getting agitated he finally stops and gets on with the exam. He looks at my head and performs a couple of cognitive tests, he says it's a nasty bump but I don't have a concussion or anything.

"Before I conduct a pelvic exam are there any other injuries I should be aware of?" The doctor asks me.

I nod and start to take off my shirt to show him my back and the bruise on his stomach.

"Uh should I leave?" Dave questions a little nervously.

"No please stay with me." I request in a quiet pleading tone as being alone with the doctor terrifies me for some reason right now.

Dave nods; I take off my shirt and lean back so the doctor can see the dark blue bruise on my stomach. After looking at it and poking around and asking me if anything is sensitive, he says it's just a bad bruise. I turn so he can see my back and it's never a good sign when your doctor gasps.

"Oh my god!" Exclaims the doctor and then he's silent for several seconds. "I'll have the nurse clean and bandage this I see there's more on your lower back does it go down farther?" The doctor inquires.

"Down to my upper thigh." I say softly.

He looks at my arms and legs and notes every scratch and bruise on them most of which are from being pushed into the wooden crates. He looks at the bruises on my shoulder and just below at the parallel ones on my clavicle. Then he tells me he's going to do a pelvic exam, this is the part I've been dreading. I start getting very anxious, nervous and it quickly turns into hysterics. Dave comes over and holds my hand, he tells me its okay but I'm still petrified.

"I'll Stay with you the whole time Clare, I promise but you have to let the doctor look at you and make sure you're okay. You can look at me the whole time." Dave tells me.

I don't really feel any more secure about getting the exam but I've calmed down enough that the doctor has begun assembling his instruments. As soon as I see the lineup of tools on his tray I start to freak out. I'm too afraid it's going to feel like being assaulted all over again and I flat out refuse to have the exam. I start babbling wildly that he wore a condom and there's nothing to see down there. I'm standing up and trying to head for the door and now that I have some energy I can make tears again and I'm sobbing furiously. The doctor tells me he won't do the pelvic exam right now and I can come back when I'm ready to have the exam. He leaves the room, a few minutes later a nurse comes in to clean and bandage almost my entire backside. Dave stays in the room, holding my hand the whole time but facing the back wall so he doesn't see anything as I'm half naked the whole time. Once I'm bandaged the nurse gives me a laundry list of instructions, a generic antibiotic and acetaminophen with codeine. As we're leaving the administration nurse stops us.

"Here is our card you can call us or just come in when you're ready for your pelvic exam. Also here is the information for a rape support group." The nurse says holding out a business card and a flyer.

I just stare at her like she's crazy as I'm never doing either but Dave takes them.

"Come on let's get back to school." Dave says as we walk back out to his car.

**Update soon _maybe_ with some Dallas POV**


	24. One of Us Is In Love

**I Do Not Own DeGrassi**

**POV jumps around a bit sorry**

**Ch. 24 One of Us Is In Love**

**(DAVE)**

Clare and I re-entered school through the back where I'd found her so we wouldn't have to explain to my father where we'd been. It would be lunch in a few minutes so there was no point in going to our classes, we went to her locker, she leaned against it on her arm, chewing her lip and looking down.

"Is there…can I….do you need anything?" I finally asked.

I wanted to help my friend but I had no idea how. I couldn't even begin to imagine what she'd been through. I'd sometimes hear my father talking to my mom about rape cases he'd been involved in and I always felt sick hearing about them and I didn't even know those girls but I know Clare. She is Alli's best friend, she is my friend and some guy raped her! Not just raped her but it had been violent, plainly evident by her injuries.

She looked up at me releasing her lip. "Not unless you can reverse time and stop it from ever happening." She said quietly. I felt a rush of helplessness and hurt for my friend, I put my hand on her shoulder since I had no words to comfort her. I wasn't sure anyone did. She smiled just a bit as the bell rang and classes began to empty. "Thanks for coming with me Dave just remember you can't tell anyone." She reminds me in a resolute tone.

I sigh taking my hand from her shoulder, while I understood why she didn't want anyone to know I felt like she should talk to someone.

"I won't but you should." I tell her.

She looked down, shaking her head and biting her lip again.

"Clare I'm here for you and you can talk to me but what about you're other friends? Alli or Eli and Adam?" I suggest.

"No I can't! I just can't!" She said in a resolved tone but still looking at the floor.

"Okay then what about Dallas? You honestly think it's better not to tell your boyfriend?" I beseech her.

She shook her head vigorously but never looked up from the floor. "No he can never know." Her voice was soft but determined.

"Clare he knows something is wrong, you've barely looked to or talked to him since." I point out.

"I know but every time I look at him it just reminds me that I love him and then it hurts. He can't know Dave! He'd…." her sentence trails off as I saw tears drop to the floor.

"I'm guessing you haven't had sex since your still wearing your purity ring," I said lifting her hand and gently touching her ring, "but I do know that you've slept in the same bed. You just told me you loved him and you can't even kiss him. How long before you think he sees the scratches on your back or the bump on your head?"

She finally looked up from the floor again a solid, single-minded look on her face. "You're right there's only one thing to do." She says with finality.

"You're going to tell him." I say with a relieved breath.

"I have to break up with him." She says wiping the tears from her face, taking her ring off and dropping it to the ground with a soft clink, then she turns quickly and disappears down the hall.

"That's not what I meant!" I called after her but she was gone. I pick her ring up and fall back against my locker as I became filled with helplessness and worry for Clare.

**(DALLAS)**

"You worked out the…Dallas?" Luke says hitting my arm so I'd pay attention as we got to our lockers.

"What sorry?" I question looking over at him.

"What's with you man? You've been distracted all morning, you still bugging over Clare? She's a chick, she's moody give it a couple days." Luke tries to assure me.

I didn't think he was right but I didn't want to talk about Clare with Luke. I started to open my locker and felt my jacket being tugged at; I look over to see Clare. She's looking at my jacket not meeting my face and I can see she's been crying.

"Can we talk?" She asks in a very soft voice, then look pasts me to see Luke. "Alone." She adds.

I nod and she turns so I follow her, she goes to the closest classroom and opens the door. The room is empty so she goes in and turns her back to me and I close the door.

"Clare what's…" I start but she cuts me off.

"I'm breaking up with you." She says it so quickly and quietly I almost don't hear her but the words sink in and my heart breaks.

"Clare why? Princess what did I do?" I implore, I don't want to break up and the thought of losing her makes me realize I love her.

She's crying again and I go to her, putting my hand under her chin so she'll look at me. She starts crying harder, wrenching away from my touch like I hit her.

"Don't!" She says in a hard tone but soft voice. "And don't call me Princess, I'm not. I cheated on you, I had sex with someone else and we're breaking up." Her words are filled with venom and my heart freezes but her tone is so sad and almost frightened.

I look at her hand to see her abstinence ring is gone and I feel like I've been punched in the gut and stabbed in the heart all at once. She runs from the classroom before I can ask who because I want to kill them! She leaves me there, shocked, dumbstruck and filled with so much pain. I've never known this kind of pain; I've never been with one girl so long or cared so much. Caring sucks! Being in love sucks if this is what it feels like! How could she cheat?! She would barely let me finger her and then she goes and fucks some other GUY?! And when the hell did she? My anger gets the better of me and I punch the wall making a large hole.

I leave the classroom, I should be meeting the rest of the team for lunch but I've lost my appetite. I start stalking the halls determined to find out who the guy is or find her and force her to tell me. The first person I run into or rather runs into me is Tristan. I'm too angry and in too much pain for it to register with me though and I pick him up by the collar and slam him against the wall.

"I said I was sorry." He squeaks in a frightened voice even this doesn't faze me though.

"Sorry for what? Was it you?" I demand slamming him into the wall again.

"Dallas what the hell?" Bianca's shrill voice snaps suddenly but I don't look at her.

"Dallas you better FUCKING put my brother down!" Owen's loud, hard and threatening voice finally works it's way through my enraged and agonized mind.

I blink and actually absorb Tristan's face, my face softens a little and I put Tristan down and release him. Owen takes his brothers arm and starts looking him over.

"I'm okay Owen." Tristan says smiling a little. "I'm eating lunch with Tor so I should probably go." He says quietly and then backs away before turning and running down the hall.

"Owen man I'm sorry I didn't realize it was him I…" my sentence stops as my rage comes back thinking about what Clare confessed to me when she broke my heart a few moments ago.

"What the hell is with you? Luke said Clare came to talk to you, did she explain what's been going on?" Owen asks and he's still glaring at me a little for attacking his brother.

"Yeah." I tell them, punching the wall again. "She broke up with me, said she cheated on me! That she fucked some other guy!" I inform them.

"St. Clare cheated? There's no way!" Bianca states.

"Yeah that doesn't sound like Clare." Owen agrees.

"Yeah well then why'd she break up with me and why is her purity ring no longer on?" I question and when they have no answer I charge down the hall again.

**(CLARE)**

After breaking up with Dallas I went to the science classroom, it was my next class and I wasn't hungry and anyway I wanted to be alone. I lay my head down on my desk and let the tears come, breaking up with Dallas was the hardest thing I've ever done but I had to, I had to keep him from knowing. By the time the bell rings I've made a little lake of tears on my desk, wiping the rest of my tears and picking my head up enough so it looks like I'm paying attention I start dragging my fingers through the lake of tears.

"I heard you broke up with Dallas." Dave says sitting at his desk next to mine. I just nod my head, he goes to put his hand on my back but then stops probably remembering it's all scratched up and puts his hand on mine instead. "You want to sleep at my house again?" He offers.

"Thanks but no, your parents would probably find me and then we'd have to explain why I was there." I tell him.

Wesley and Connor come in just then and look at us. Dave takes his hand off mine and sits back in his chair, but he's still giving me a look that's a mixture of pity and concern.

"Are you okay Clare? You look like you've been crying and Adam said you broke up with Dallas." Wesley says.

My lip starts trembling and I bite down on it, feeling the tears rolling down my cheeks. I have no answer; I'm so far from okay I don't even remember what okay feels like. I just nod my head slowly as the late bell rings and Mr. Bettenkamp comes in, he like everyone else looks at me a few seconds and I know I'm a wreck.

"Clare are you alright? Would you like to go to the nurse?" Mr. Bettenkamp asks.

I nod again as this sounds better than sitting in class, he hands me a hall pass and I get up from my desk. I stop at the water fountain and take some of my pain pills the doctor gave me since everything hurts, physical and emotional. Deciding I'd rather the nurse not see my head or my nearly completely bandaged backside I go out to Jake's truck instead, sitting in the bed of the truck, with my knees to my chest.

"Clare what are you doing out here? Why'd you break up with Dallas? I don't believe you cheated on him!" Adam says as he climbs into the back of the truck with me.

"Believe what you want Adam I had sex with someone else." I inform him showing him my hand.

"Clare something else is going on, tell me what please." Adam pleads.

"Nothing else is going on Adam." I snap at him, getting up and hopping out of the truck, which was a terrible idea as it hurts like hell and I scream.

"If nothing else is wrong why did you just scream in pain?" Adam inquires.

"I landed wrong on my ankle." I lie.

"Clare I know when you're lying." Adam says getting out of the truck and trying to take my arm but I yank it away.

"Adam just leave me alone." I cry backing up.

He doesn't move and I take off, walking to the far end of the parking lot. He calls after me and I ignore him. I walk all the way home, taking the long way around and with how slow I'm walking it takes a while for me to actually reach home. I go up to my room, closing and locking my door; I lie down on my bed and cry myself to sleep.

**(ADAM)**

Clare walks off and my instinct says to go after her but she's so agitated and determined to be alone that I don't move. She slowly fades into the distance and I sigh heavily and turn around to walk back into the school, to my locker and Eli's at his.

"Something's wrong with her Eli, she's not talking, she's pushing everyone away. She wouldn't cheat on Dallas, not after her dad cheated on her mom." I gripe in a worried tone as I lean against my locker.

"Yeah I don't believe she cheated on him either and we both know something more is going on but she isn't talking us. She isn't talking to anyone, I'm worried too Adam but what are we supposed to do?" Eli asks sounding as worried and helpless as I feel.

I don't have a response and punch my locker, and then I hear the clamor of the hockey team walking down the hall.

"Dallas your captain you can't blow off practice to go to Clare's house. She broke up with you dude, she cheated fucking let it go and concentrate on practice." Luke is saying to Dallas.

And then Dallas explodes, his face gets hard and furious, he grabs Luke by his Ice Hounds jacket and smashes him into the lockers with such force the locker doors bend in.

"I can't fucking let it go and I don't believe she cheated!" Dallas seethes through clenched teeth.

"Dallas chill, let him go." Owen says putting a hand on Dallas' shoulder. Dallas doesn't relax but he lets go of Luke. Owen turns to the rest of the team and they all looked shocked and fairly scared. "You guys go to practice, we'll meet you there." Owen commands to the rest of the team, they stay frozen a minute and then they all leave and Owen turns back to Dallas. "Even if you go to her house, what would you say to her? What if she doesn't want to see you?" Owen asks Dallas.

He slumps and his face falls. "I don't know. Ask her why? Who?" Dallas sort of mumbles.

"She ran off, she doesn't want to talk to anyone." I tell them.

"Something happened to her, I don't believe she cheated and I'm sure it has to do with Asher but why won't she tell me? Why won't she tell any of us?" Dallas inquires, he looks absolutely despondent.

"I agree with you." Owen nods.

"Me too." I agree.

"And so do I." Says Eli. "Clare wouldn't cheat and something else is obviously going on but going to her house and confronting her when she's so agitated is just going to make her push you away more. She's stubborn and stoic, I know I dated her. Give her some time, her analytical mind will come round and she'll realize she needs to talk to someone." Eli advises.

"And what if she doesn't?" Dallas inquires.

"If she's not talking by Friday we'll confront her." Owen tells him.

Dallas looks only slightly comforted but very defeated, he nods a bit, Owen puts a hand at his back and they walk down the hall.

**(CLARE)**

I wake up just after three in the morning, my head is pounding and everything hurts. I take some pain reliever and head to the washroom, I'd love a bath or shower but I'm not supposed to get my bandages wet so I have to take a sort of sponge bath. Sitting on the edge of the tub and letting the water run, I use a washcloth and body wash to clean up. Moving hurts like a bitch, the raw scraped flesh on my back that's scabbing over stings and smarts every time I bend or move my arms, sitting on the chaffed flesh on my legs burns but after a few minutes they go numb. Washing my hair is the worst, bending over the tub to put my hair under the faucet but I manage.

Dressing hurts too but it's a little more bearable to wear undergarments now that I have bandages on. I put on a summer dress, it's loose and the fabric is light and it doesn't occur to me that's it's the dead of winter because I've lost my mind. Its just after four now, I leave a note for my mom and leave for a second day without my phone or backpack and books. Now that I'm outside I'm engulfed by freezing air and winter chill, crossing my arms over my chest does very little so I run all the way to school, which does warm me up a little but is irritatingly painful. The school is locked but my escape door is unlocked, I'm not even sure Simpson remembers the door is there as it's never guarded or locked.

No one's at the school and it's horribly spooky, Asher's been in the school before and it doesn't feel very safe anymore. The halls are dark and I see shadows and hear noises and to my mind they are all Asher coming for me again. I run for the storage room and lock the door. Lying down on the sofa, I want to cry but I can't no tears will come. I feel all empty and full again at the same time; my mind racing and stagnant as well. I wonder how I'm going to make it through one more day at school.

**(DALLAS)**

I couldn't sleep and came to school early, I walked the whole way hoping it would help me clear my head and calm me down. It doesn't and by the time I reach the school and show my ID to Officer Turner I'm just as angry and as hurt as I was yesterday when Clare broke up with me. This early the school is pretty empty but Dave is here, must have come with his Dad. He's leaning against Clare's locker for some reason and looking at a ring in his fingers, no not a ring Clare's ring! I stomp over to him and he looks up at me, opening his mouth to talk but I pick him up under the armpits and shove him into the lockers.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HER RING?! DID YOU SLEEP WITH HER?" I roar at him, he looks petrified but I don't care.

"Dallas no I…" he starts but I cut him off.

"THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH HER RING?! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I growl at him shoving him into the lockers again, I release my grip and hold him with my arm across his chest getting ready to punch his teeth out when my fist is grabbed.

"Mike stop! Put him down I didn't have sex with Dave!" Clare pleads with me pulling at my arm.

I look at her and my face immediately softens, she looks distressed and upset but still so very beautiful. I notice she's not wearing a jacket and she looks cold. I love her and I want to tell her but she hates me, she cheated and my heart breaks all over again.

"Then why does he have your ring?" I bark, I'm looking at him but she flinches and takes her hand from my arm.

"I…I…picked it up from the floor when she dropped it yesterday." Dave stammers.

"Dave is my friend, he's dating my best friend, he was helping. Put him down Mike." She insists.

I let go of Dave and she takes his hand and begins walking off with him, releasing his hand after a few steps. I notice she's got something white on her back, it looks like bandages.

"Clare!" I call after her but she ignores me and continues down the hall.

**(CLARE)**

Dallas calls after me but I just can't talk to him, it hurts too much to even look at him. If I hadn't been so sure he was about to kill Dave I wouldn't have gotten involved.

"I'm sorry Dave." I apologize after we've turned the corner.

"For what keeping me from getting my face pounded in?" He tries to joke but I'm in no mood. He sighs and holds up my ring. "I thought you might want this back."

"It doesn't mean anything anymore, throw it away. It's trash just like I am now." I tell him and before he can say anything I walk away and into the girl's washroom.

When the bell rings I go to class without anything again but Miss Oh doesn't say a word to me about it this time. Alli and Adam give me the same look, Alli sits down next to me silently but Adam makes a noise when he sits down and I realize my bandages are partly visible with the dress I'm wearing.

"What happened to your back?" Adam questions and Alli looks over.

"I fell, I'm fine." I tell them almost in a whisper.

"Why are you wearing a summer dress in February? It's freezing outside aren't you cold?" Alli questions.

I just shrug and Miss Oh starts class. As soon as class ends I speed out of there and take some more acetaminophen with codeine before going to drama.

"Hey Clare, I heard you and Dallas broke up sorry." Liam says sitting at his desk. I try to smile at him but I'm not sure I succeed. "You look cold and what's on your back?" He inquires, I don't feel like talking about it again so I just shrug and he seems to take the hint.

Miss Dawes gives me a curious look but doesn't say anything or call on me, not once all through class actually. As soon as the bell rings for morning break I leave the class room. I'm looking at my feet to avoid people's faces but when I turn a corner I see Ice Hounds jackets and I look up even though I don't want to. Nearly the whole team is by Luke and Dallas' lockers and they aren't alone, there's a dozen puck bunnies, draping themselves on and flirting with the players including Dallas! I become ripped with jealousy, anger and hurt. I turn around squeezing my eyes shut in an effort to keep from crying.

"You okay Clare?" Dave's voice urges me to open my eyes.

"I can't do this Dave." I confess looking over my shoulder briefly and looking back at him. Dave looks past me and back at me again. "I broke up with him yesterday and the puck bunnies are already all over him. I can't be here, watching him, seeing him it hurts too much."

"You could tell him." Dave suggests.

I shake my head, tears trickling down my cheek. "I can't do that either."

"So you're what going to leave DeGrassi?" Dave inquires.

I bite my lip thinking for a second. "No more than that, I'm going to leave all together. Runaway and never look back." I tell him and turn around to start walking out of school so I can get back home and pack a bag.

Dave catches my arm holding firmly and turning me back to him. "Have you lost your mind?! You can't run away! Where would you even go?!" He demands

"I don't know Kenya with Darcy, Regina to live with Peter, Quebec to live with Spin and Emma or maybe L.A. to stay with Manny and Jay. It doesn't matter as long as it's not here!" I tell him.

"You really think me or your family or anyone else is going to let you run away on your own?!" Dave remarks.

"I have to, I can't be here!" I cry in a sort of pleading tone.

"What's going on?" Dallas asks, his face is calm but his tone is hard.

"Nothing, everything's fine." I tell him as Dave lets go of my arm.

Dallas looks at me and then back at Dave and I use the opportunity to walk away quickly while he's distracted.

**(DALLAS)**

After attacking Dave this morning I do believe that he didn't sleep with Clare but when I saw them arguing and him holding her arm I had to intervene. She tells me everything's fine but I don't believe her and I look at Dave for an explanation.

"Everything is not fine, you need to tell him…" he says and we look over to where Clare was but she's gone. "Where'd she go? We have to find her; you have to talk to her." Dave entreats.

"I tried she won't talk to me, she won't even look at me." I lament.

"Then we'll lock her in a room and force her too, Connor said it worked before. You have to talk to her she was threatening to run away Dallas, to leave Toronto and run away on her own." Dave informs me.

When he tells me this I know there's more going on than she's telling me. I feel a new kind of worry and hurt thinking about her leaving and running away. "Find her, get everyone to look and take her to the storage room. Lock her in and tell me when you have her. I'll get the team, Bianca, Adam and Eli to look." I instruct.

Dave nods and takes off pulling out his phone; I do the same sending a text to Bianca, Eli and Adam.

**Clare threatened to run away find her and lock her in the storage room. I'm going to force her to talk to me.**

They all reply within seconds that they're looking, and I go back to where the team is. Most of them have dispersed but Owen and Luke are still there.

"Find Clare lock her in the storage room." I order.

Owen nods and takes off but Luke asks why. I tell him to just do it and he finally nods and walks in the other direction to look for her.

**(CLARE)**

I make it as far as the garden and lean against the wall a minute and I'm freezing again, must remember to grab a jacket at home. My head is swimming; I feel like it might explode, I feel like I might explode. I also figure I might want to figure out where I'm going first as I'm pretty sure they're going to ask me when I get to the bus station.

"Clare there you are." Eli says suddenly, I turn to look at him and then turn and start walking but he catches my arm. "Wait Alli needs you, she's upset something about Sav, she sent me to find you." Eli tells me.

I sigh and bite my lip. I can't leave forever without being there for my best friend one last time. "Where is she?" I ask quietly.

Eli waves me forward and pulls out his phone texting someone I presume to be Alli. I follow Eli into school again and down the halls to the storage room, where Adam is waiting. Eli takes my arm and sort of gently shoves me in the storage room.

"Why would Alli be in the storage room?" I ask, I don't see her anywhere. I turn around to see Bianca, Luke, Owen and Dave standing outside the doors now as well and then the doors are shut and locked. I go to the door and start banging on it. "ADAM OPEN THIS DOOR!" I demand.

"Not until you tell me what happened? What's going on Clare?" Dallas demands.

**Update soon from right here**


	25. Edge of a Broken Heart

**Ch. 25 Edge of a Broken Heart**

**(CLARE)**

"ELI LET ME OUT!" I yell banging on the door but get no response. "OWEN OPEN THE DOOR!" Still no response from the other side of the door but I can see them out there, behind the clouded glass.

"No one's opening the door until you tell me what's going on. Princess talk to me please." Dallas pleads.

Hearing him call me Princess used to be one of my favorite things, now it just sends a stab of pain through my chest. I give up trying to be let out, I can feel tears starting to break from the corners of my eyes, I shut them tight and walk farther into the room, leaning on one of the shelves with my back to Dallas.

"Clare what happened?" He asks again, his voice is strained with distress and desperation.

"I already told you." I tell him, fruitlessly wiping away my tears as more spill out.

"Dave said you were going to run away, leave Toronto!" He exclaims his voice is now an even mixture of anger and concern.

"I can't stay and watch you with the puck bunnies it hurts too much!" I snap.

He walks around and stands in front of me, I won't look up at his face but I see his jacket and I see how stiff his posture is.

"I haven't touched the puck bunnies, not a single one and you broke up with me! You cheated on me remember?" He says in a hard and spiteful tone.

My heart shatters and feels like its being constricted all at once. My whole chest feels compressed, I squeeze my eyes tighter, my lip is trembling I'm crying so hard. I turn around putting my back to him again, the memory of that night begins to replay in my mind and I'm starting to feel like I can't breathe.

"You didn't cheat did you?" He inquires but it come as out as more of a statement, his voice soft and hopeful now.

He's standing next to me and just slightly in front of me now, his fingers come under my chin so softly and he tilts my head up to look at him. His touch so delicate and gentle and loving makes me want to cling to him, to be in the safety of his embrace. At the same time it sends a wave of internal pain and shame through me for what happened. I wrench away from him backing up a couple of steps.

"But I did, I did cheat on you!" I confess through my tears, it comes out somehow harsh and rueful. My head drops down more and I turn away a bit leaning my arms on the shelves and my head on my arms. "I did cheat on you but I didn't want to." The words my leave my mouth with so much weight in them they take my breath away with them.

There's a minute of silence and then I hear Dallas take a step closer to me. His breathing is soft and shallow and slightly stressed. I can't see him but I feel the warmth of his hand as it hovers just above my arm as he debates whether or not to put his hand on me.

"Clare what are you talking about?" He asks finally putting his hand on my arm and turning me to him.

His hand on my cold skin feels like a warm bath on cold night and covers me in goose flesh. I shake my head, I can't tell him I've said too much already. Asher will come after me and Maya; and Dallas will hate me. I bite my lip and continue to shake my head, I'm shivering but if that's from all the crying; or the heat of his hand making me realize how cold I am in only a summer dress in the dead of winter, I'm not sure. Dallas seems to decide that its because I'm cold since he takes his jacket off and puts it around my shoulders. His jacket is silky soft, warm and comforting and permeated with his musky sweet scent. I want to curl up and hide in his jacket, to stay in it forever.

"Talk to me Clare." He requests in a soft, kind soothing voice.

"I can't." I whisper between sobs as I pull his jacket around me a little tighter.

"Princess please." He begs, his voice so filled with worry and laced with hurt it breaks into my resolve.

I sink to the floor on my knees and he sinks down with me, cupping my chin once more and this time I don't wrench away. He tilts my head up and I do meet his eyes but I can't see them because I'm crying to hard.

"Princess…" he starts again but I cut him off.

"Don't call me Princess," I snap at him and he flinches a little, "I'm not. I didn't want to cheat on you, he made me! He raped me!" The last part erupts from my mouth with so much venom it leaves a bad taste on my tongue just saying it.

Now the memories have come back in a torrent. Dallas' hand drops from my chin but he's otherwise frozen, not so much as taking a breath. I sink down a little more sitting on one thigh and crying into my hands. I'm drowning in shame, debasement, humiliation and overwhelming pain; physical, emotional even mental. I hear Dallas stand and I'm sure that he hates me; my mind says he's going to storm out of the room and never look at me again. Without warning there's a calamity of loud sounds, I look up from my hands to see Dallas has gone ballistic, he's pulled down one of the stacked tables and is ripping stuff off the shelves, old school supplies and props for plays get tossed around them room while others crash to the floor. I realize I've caught a breath in my throat from fear as I watch him in a rage fueled outburst. Suddenly he stops and turns and turns to me, his face is hard and dark, his eyes narrowed, fists clenched, posture stiff.

"Who?" He demands through clenched teeth.

I look down and bite my trembling lip. "Asher." I say in hardly even in a whisper.

"Clare," he sits kneels down next to me and puts his arm around me, over his jacket but the pressure on my skinned back hurts.

"Ow!" I whimper in a high pitched yelp.

He takes the jacket off my shoulders a bit and runs his fingers along the edge of my bandage.

"You're bleeding!" He says in an irate yet worried tone. He hooks a finger in the back of my dress and pulls it away from my body a bit, presumably to look down at the bandages. "Did he do this?" Dallas inquires his voice filled only with enraged ire now and I nod my head in answer to his question. "He's fucking dead! I'm going to fucking kill him, rip his fucking head off!" Dallas exclaims furiously.

He stands up and turns, storming for the door, I get up and follow him. He seems determined to go find Asher and all I can think is I need to stop him. He reaches the door and bangs on it forcefully with his clenched fist.

"Owen open the fucking door!" He commands harshly.

The door opens and Dallas stalks out, as much as it hurts to move I run after him catching his arm.

"Mike stop! You can't!" I cry.

He stops walking when I touch his arm and looks at me. Luke has joined the group awaiting outside the door and they're all looking at me. I've been crying furiously since almost the minute we were locked in there and I know I look terrible, I'm sure I feel worse than I look though.

"He's dead Clare!" Dallas declares.

"Geez Dallas what did you do to the storage room?" Luke questions.

Everyone else looks away from me and into the storage room that's half trashed now because of Dallas' fit of rage. After a couple of seconds and a gasp from Bianca they all look back at us.

"Who's dead?" Eli inquires.

"Asher FUCKING Shostak!" Dallas barks.

"Mike you can't he said he'd make it worse next time if anyone found out! He said he'd make it worse for me and go after Maya! I went to the doctor I'm fine." I implore.

"You're fine?!" Dallas exclaims, taking his coat from my shoulders. "Your back is bandaged, almost your entire back! Your bruised and scratched and your fine?!"

"And the bump on her forehead." Dave adds.

Dallas brushes my bangs aside, revealing the bump and his face gets harder.

"It's just a bump I don't even have a concussion. The doctor sad I was okay." I tell them.

"No he didn't, she wouldn't talk to the cops, wouldn't even say his name and she wouldn't let the doctor do a full exam." Dave tells them.

"What the hell is going on?" Owen demands.

"What did Asher do to you?" Eli questions his voice is concerned but laced with animosity.

My crying has slowed but not stopped, I've calmed just a bit which I attribute to Dallas' jacket as it's extremely comforting. I look at Eli, his eyes are lit with a fire of anger but his face is pensive. I look to Adam and his face is full of worry while his eyes too are narrowed and angry. Owen, much like Dallas has a hard hateful, irate look on his face, a murderous look but his eyes are misted with worry. As Dave already knew the only expression on his face is relief. Luke looks more confused than anything else but there are tinges of worry and anger in his expression that I assume he's picking up from the general mood of the group. Bianca looks pissed and worried as much as Dallas and Owen. Dallas looks ready to yell it out and I've already told him so I give in, with a defeated and worried sigh, if Asher finds out I told his next attack will be more brutal, and worse he'll go after Maya whose entirely innocent in all of this.

"I'll tell you, all of you, everything but not here." I tell them slowly in a soft cracking voice.

"Everyone to our place, Bianca call Drew tell him to meet us he needs to hear this too." Dallas commands with a hard jaw and harder tone.

"I'll stay here, but I'll help get you guys out past my dad." Dave says.

"Good lets go, Eli and Adam with us." Dallas barks so loud that I cringe.

He turns and looks at me and his face softens, his posture relaxing and he holds out his hand to me. I relax a little to and take his hand, he interlaces our fingers and we start walking to the school entrance as I hear Bianca on the phone with Drew.

"Get to your parents' house now! We're all on our way that fucking asshole hurt her again!" Bianca informs him and then hangs up.

Dave walks out first and distracts his dad while the rest of us sneak behind him and out to the parking lot. Bianca, Luke and Owen get in his car while Adam and Eli walk with me and Dallas to Mr. Torres' car and we drive to Adam's house in silence. When we arrive I see Drew's car is already there, Dallas parks and we all get out, going to the basement door which Drew has unlocked. Drew looks at me as we enter, his face scrunches up a bit with worry. I sit on the ottoman and start nervously picking at my cuticles as Owen, Bianca and Luke come in.

"What did that fucking pedophile do this time?!" Drew questions for everyone as they all sit down.

"He raped her! That asshole raped her!" Dallas says for me.

The room falls silent and freezes for a minute they don't move or breath or anything.

Bianca is the first to break the silence. "What?" She exhales with a disbelieving breath.

"When?" Eli croaks out and I hear the pain in his voice.

"Monday night." I tell them in a quiet voice. I'm still looking at my hands, I don't even want to relay the story and I definitely can't do it while looking any of them in the face.

"Tell us what happened Clare, everything!" Owen insists, his voice is infuriated but strained with afflicted anxiety.

I take a deep shuddering breath trying to prepare myself to tell them everything. Dallas sits next to me on the ottoman and tries to put his arm around me but I flinch away. I can feel him looking at me.

"You probably won't want to touch me after I tell you this." I whisper to him in explanation for recoiling from his touch.

He doesn't say anything but takes my hand and once again interlaces our fingers. Another deep shuddering breath, Dallas squeezes my hand and I start recounting. Starting with leaving the Dot and then feeling like someone was watching so I started searching for my mace. I pause for a minute shutting my eyes as the event plays in my head and becomes so real that I can feel Asher's hand over my mouth again. Dallas squeezes my hand again bringing it to his lips and kissing it gently and I continue.

"He put his hand over my mouth, he took off my backpack and dropped it to the ground and pulled me back into the alley. It didn't seem real at first, like some terrible dream, I knew it was Asher before he even spoke. He said that he told me I'd pay for spraying him with mace and then asked if I had any idea how long he'd wanted to do this. He let go of me a little, I tried to get away and he slammed my head into the wall and I passed out." I have to stop again saying it out loud, reliving it all over again not just having it play in my mind but saying the words to people who care about me is not only painful but humiliating in its own way.

Dallas releases my hand for a second, takes it with his other one and then puts his arm around me. I shut my eyes tight, taking a deep shuddering breath, wipe away some tears, open my eyes and focus on Adam's shoes.

"When I came to I was naked he was dragging me across the pavement to the back of the alley by my hair and he had gagged me with his belt cinched around my head." I tell them slowly.

I stop talking when I hear a loud ripping sound; I look up just enough to see Owen has ripped a throw pillow completely in half. I don't need to see his face or any of their faces to know that they have hateful rage on them.

"I don't think you want to hear the rest." I say quietly focusing on Eli's shoes this time.

"No we don't but you need to tell us everything." Says Bianca.

I bite my lip, wipe away some more tears, another deep breath and I start again. "I tried to fight, tried to scream but both were useless. When we were at the back of the alley he let go of my hair and I dropped to the ground. By that point I couldn't fight any more, I was in so much pain, so dizzy and nauseous I didn't have the strength to fight. He started unzipping his pants and I thought about all the people I care about. He brushed hair from my face and told me I looked beautiful. I slapped him with all the strength I had but it didn't do anything, he said he likes my inner fire but couldn't have me hitting him it would kill the mood. He told me to stay there and to make sure I did he hit me very hard in the stomach. He walked away and came back with my shirt sitting on me again he ripped my shirt and tied my wrists and arms with it. Then he told me I looked so much sexier all bound and gagged and said if I wasn't good this time next time he'd bring chains and a whip."

I'm interrupted again but this time by several simultaneous punches to the sofa and Dallas tightens his arms around me. I hiss in a painful breath as he hits the road rash on my lower back and he loosens his grip a little. They aren't going to get any calmer and if I'm going to get this out I need to get it over with so I continue.

"He stood up and put on a condom, saying we couldn't have me getting pregnant. He kneeled down between my legs and…" I begin crying again, wailing as the feelings and pain of him thrusting into me come back in an over whelming wave.

I can feel that Dallas' posture has gotten even stiffer now, he's not talking and his breathing seems to have morphed into an angry sort of growling. I bite my lip, feeling so small, so ashamed, so dirty and degraded all over again. I try to speak once more but it comes out as a frightened choking squeak. I hear Dallas take a deep breath and relax a little, calming enough that it manages to calm me a bit. I swallow hard and take a deep breath and manage to find my voice again.

"And then he was inside of me! It was…I felt…" I pause for a deep shuddering breath not able to get the words out. I can't tell everyone about my silent apology to Dallas or the realization that I love him; I'm not even sure I can tell him that part. I clear my throat and try speaking again. "It seemed to last forever and when he was done he said it was marvelous and I felt amazing but the only things I felt was pain and an ill feeling. He went to get my clothes and told me to get dressed, he freed my arms and I started to get dressed as he burned the condom, the scraps of my shirt and his belt to get rid of any evidence. As soon as I was done dressing and standing he warned me not to say anything about it or anything else or next time he'd live out every S&M fantasy he's ever had on me and then he'd go after Maya and take her virginity more violently than mine! He kissed me, pushed me into a pile of crates and walked away." I finish and then hide my face on Dallas' chest.

The room is silent but the tension is thick. The anger and horror everyone is feeling is swirling around us in a cloud of hate. The sound of a breaking lamp cuts into it and makes me look up from Dallas' chest. Drew is standing and he appears to have punched a lamp on the end table.

"LETS GO KILL HIM! HE'S GOING TO DIE!" Drew growls sounding more like a beast than a boy.

I get up from Dallas' lap and he releases me so I can; I go to Drew putting my hands on his shoulders as he's already begun moving for the door.

"Drew you can't, none of you can! He won't just go after me; he'll go after Maya too. He'll make it worse, be more vicious. You can't!" I entreat, through sobbing breaths as tears flow steadily down my face.

Owen gets up, hopping over the back of the sofa and gingerly taking Dallas' jacket from my shoulders, turns me around so Drew can see my back covered in bandages.

"He raped you Clare, dragged you across the pavement, almost your entire back is covered in bandages! He smashed your head into the wall and I can see other bruises and scratches! He has to die and we're going to kill him slowly and painfully!" Owen states with a hard and menacing look and I see a little bit of his bully persona coming through.

He and Drew begin moving for the door again and I grab their hands. "STOP! You can't he'll come after me again! He'll go after Maya, you can't!" I plead with them but I'm near hysterics so I'm not sure how much of my plea was truly audible.

Dallas, Luke, Bianca, Drew and Owen start talking at once and I'm crying harder, the fear of Asher coming back for me, of raping me again more violently has me terrified beyond anything.

"EVERYBODY STOP!" Eli and Adam yell together and everyone else stops and looks at them.

I look at them too but I can't stop crying. They both come over to me pulling me away from Drew and Owen. Eli and Adam each have one of my hands, their other hands resting gently on my arms.

"Dave said you wouldn't let the doctor do a full exam what did he mean?" Eli asks in his silky calming voice.

"I wouldn't let him do a pelvic exam." I choke out between sobs.

"Okay you need to go back to the doctor so he can." Eli says in a soothing voice still but it's become stern as well.

I start shaking my head. "N…no no I…I can't!" I insist starting to get hysterical again.

"We'll go with you." Adam assures me.

I shake my head more vigorously this time and then Dallas' jacket is draped over my shoulders once more, I feel hands on my hips and I'm turned around to face Dallas.

"Even if he wore a condom you could have still have an STI and you probably have injuries. We'll be with you the whole time Princess." His voice is soft and calming but austere.

I look at Bianca as she's the only other female in the room. "I'll come but you have to get looked at Clare." She tells me and I finally nod.

Dallas puts his arm around me and hugs me to him lightly. "Drew can Luke borrow your car?" Dallas asks.

"Sure I guess." Drew says but he still sounds angry, he gets his keys from his pocket and gives them to Luke.

"Luke go back to school and make sure Maya is safe. I don't know if Asher would actually go after her but he's a sick fucking pedophile so I'm not taking any chances. Tell coach that Owen and I had a personal emergency and aren't coming to practice today but make sure you get tickets for tomorrow's game for Clare, Becky, Adam, Tristan, Maya, Bianca and Eli." Dallas commands and Luke nods and leaves the house.

The fear of going back to the doctor, the terrible thought of Asher coming back for me or going after Maya on top of having to relive it all be recounting it all takes it's physical toll on me. My body begins to tremble and my knees give way, I start to slide to the ground but Dallas scoops me up and my arms go around his neck. He asks me what doctor I went to and I tell him the free clinic.

"Drew and Bianca you two go with Owen, Eli and Adam with us again." Dallas instructs.

We leave the house; Dallas carries me to the car and puts me in. Eli and Adam get in the back and we drive to the free clinic with Owen following us. Dallas carries me into the clinic the administration nurse recognizes me and takes us to an exam room but says only two people can come in with me. Dallas says he's not leaving me in a very hard and authoritative tone and as Bianca is the only girl I ask her to stay but as I can't speak I do it by grabbing her arm. Owen says they'll just be in the waiting room and they close the exam room door. Dallas lays me on the exam table and the sanitary paper crinkles underneath me. I turn on my side and curl up a little and the whole scene is very reminiscent of yesterday and I'm not sure if this time is better or worse. Dallas stands at my side, holding my hand and stroking my hair; Bianca is behind me with a hand gently stroking my arm. There's a knock at the door and then it opens and even through my tears I can see the nurse.

"She'll need to put this on for the pelvic exam. The doctor will be in shortly." The nurse says handing Dallas a hospital gown and then leaving the room.

Dallas and Bianca gently guide me to sit up, Dallas takes his jacket from my shoulders and helps me off with my dress. When he sees the full bruise on my shoulder, stomach and clavicle his face goes hard again and I hear Bianca gasp at the sight of my back covered in badages. I take the gown from Dallas and put it on, taking his hand again and lying down once more. All the crying has given me a headache, reliving the rape made me feel ill and I feel dizzy again having not eaten since yesterday. There's another knock at the door and I shut my eyes tight and squeeze Dallas' hand as I would give anything not to go through this.

**(ADAM)**

I sit between my big brother and one of my best friends in the clinic waiting room, Owen sits on the other side of Drew, all of us silent, all of us angry and all of us worried and feeling some amount of guilt and compassion for our friend currently in the exam room. The fact that Asher went as far as raping her, raping her violently is till settling into my brain, it doesn't seem real. It's not that I can't believe he wouldn't go that far because I completely can but I can't believe it happened to Clare, my best friend Clare! Beautiful, sweet, kind, innocent Clare who wouldn't hurt a fly had her innocence, her virginity stolen!

"We either have to kill him or go to the cops after this!" Owen states angrily through clenched teeth breaking the silence.

"No." I say just as angrily.

"Adam we can't let him get away with this! We…" Drew starts but I cut him off.

"We're not he's going to pay but not today. I don't give a fuck about Asher but you saw Clare she was near hysterics, she couldn't even stand. She's gonna be traumatized again after the pelvic exam and she's not going to be able to tell the cops what happened, not today anyway. She isn't going to be able to repeat that account twice in one day especially after this. Asher needs to pay and we'll make sure he does but right now Clare needs all of us more than we need to kill Asher. After this we're all going back to our house, Clare will spend the night and the rest of you should stay as long as you can." I tell everyone firmly and they all nod.

"We should call Jake." Eli says after another silent minute then he gets out his phone and calls Jake himself. I look at my watch and it's currently lunchtime at DeGrassi. I hear Jake's phone ring a couple of times and then he picks it up and then I only hear Eli's side. "Hey Jake…yeah we're with her right now…she's well, okay is not the word I would use…no stay at school she's in good hands we're going to Adam's soon and she will be spending the night there could you tell her mom something…I can't tell you; not yet but she's safe and we'll take good care of her…yeah sure thanks Jake." And Eli hangs up.

We go back to silently waiting until my phone rings and it's Dave. "Hey Dave, we got her to come back to the clinic for a pelvic exam."

"That's good she needs to be looked at. Alli told me Asher was Clare's co-op mentor is that true?" Dave questions.

"Yeah." I affirm.

"That's fucking messed up! How is she?" He inquires.

"Not so good, she told us everything in terrible detail and she sort of broke down afterwards. She was terrified to come back for a pelvic exam. We're keeping her at my house tonight." I tell him.

"Good, I should go meet Alli for lunch but I won't tell her. I can't." Dave says slowly and hangs up.

I put my phone away and we go back to waiting in silence for Clare, Dallas and Bianca. That is until we hear Clare scream!

**(CLARE)**

I shut my eyes tight preparing for the doctor but it's only the nurse again coming to take my vitals.

"When did you last eat?" She asks when she sees my blood pressure is low again.

"Yesterday." I manage to tell her.

Even through the tears I can see the worried scowl, Dallas is giving me and I hide my face on the exam table. He brushes some hair from my face just as the doctor comes in.

"Make sure she eats after this." The nurse instructs as she leaves the room.

"Alright Clare I need you to lie on back and scoot down to the edge of the table." The doctor instructs in a clinical voice.

I shut my eyes tight and can't seem to move but I feel Bianca gently pulling at my legs and I finally get on my back.

"Dallas turn around so I can take off her panties." Bianca instructs.

"Why?" Dallas asks.

"Face the wall!" Bianca says in a firmer tone and I feel Dallas turn his body to face the wall but keeping hold of my hand.

"I'm taking off your panties Clare, it's just me." Bianca says in a sedative tone.

I nod a little, feel her reach under the gown and slip my panties off. The doctor takes one of my legs and I yank it away. Bianca takes the other leg and I allow her to move it, placing it in the cold metal stirrup, she does the same for the other one and then she come to my other side and takes my other hand. My eyes are shut as tight as I can get them and I'm squeezing both their hands as hard as I can.

"Ok Clare just relax, I'm going to begin the exam now." The doctor informs me. I hear a glove being put on and my legs start to close, trying to pick my feet up from the stirrups but he's strapped them in. "It's okay Clare relax your body you need to let me look." The doctor says.

"_Easy for you to say, you weren't raped and aren't about to be violated again by some strange doctor." _

My breathing speeds up and I feel Dallas kissing my forehead. "Breathe Princess, I have you." He assures me.

I take a deep breath and manage to relax a little bit but when I feel the doctors fingers start to probe inside of me and it feels for all the world like Asher entering me again and I scream as loud as I can!

**Update soon from right here. The chapters will start getting happier with the next one when Clare stays the night at the Torres house and back in Dallas' bed where she belongs :-)**


	26. Still Hurting

**Ch. 26 Still Hurting**

**(DALLAS)**

Suddenly Clare screamed and squeezed my hand with more strength than I knew she had. It killed me that she had to go through this but this was the only way we could know if she was injured.

"Princess look at me just look in my eyes its only me and you here." I try and comfort her but she keeps screaming and then there's loud pounding at the door.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THERE?!" Yells Owen.

"LET US IN!" Demands Drew.

"CLARE ARE YOU OKAY?!" Eli hollers.

"CLARE!" That was Adam.

They continued banging on the door and Clare continued screaming even though the doctor wasn't touching her anymore. I felt so helpless, I wanted to take away her pain make her feel better but I didn't know how. Finally Bianca grabbed Clare's chin and forced her to stop and open her eyes.

"I know this sucks but unless you want four very angry guys to break down that door while you're like this you need to stop." Bianca told her in a stern tone.

Clare stopped screaming but she was still crying hard and squeezing our hands. Bianca yelled to the guys that Clare was okay and to wait in the waiting room, we heard them walk away and the doctor looked at us.

"Clare just squeeze our hands and look at me. I've got you." I assure her using my free hand to stroke her hair.

The exam seems to take forever and even though she's crying too hard to see, I never look away from her eyes. She doesn't scream again but there's lots of crying, hitching of her breath and by the time the doctor is done my hand is sore from how hard she was squeezing it and I can tell Bianca's is too.

"You're the boyfriend I assume?" The doctor asks me when he's done and I nod. "Clare you can start getting dressed again. Can I see you in the hall a moment?" The doctor asks looking at me.

"Stay with her." I say to Bianca and she nods. "I'll be back in a minute Princess, Bianca will be here with you and I'll be right back." I assure her before stepping into the hall with the doctor.

"I have to be honest with you this is one of the more violent rapes I've seen. I know another young man brought her in yesterday but I'm assuming you've seen her external injuries?" The doctor asks.

"I've seen the bandages on her back, and her bruises, the bump on her head. She told us what happened too. Is she going to be okay?" I inquire.

"She has severe vaginal bruising but there won't be any permanent physical damage. I know she was hesitant to speak with the cops but she should." The doctor tells me.

"Don't worry we'll take her to talk to the cops, I just don't think she can handle that today." I reply.

"No she should go home and rest today, I see she has lots of support and that's good. You should also try and get her to a rape support group, she was reluctant but they can be very good. There's also a group for partners of rape victims that we'll give you the information for. I already sent her home with some medications make sure she continues taking those. Feel free to bring her back in for anything; nothing is too small to be checked out." The doctor tells me.

"Yeah thanks doc." I say and then go back into the room. Clare is dressed but curled on her side in a fetal position, still crying and still squeezing Bianca's hand. I take the car keys from my pocket and hand them to Bianca. "Give these to Adam he can drive home." I tell her and she takes the keys.

"Princess let go of Bianca's hand, I'm going to pick you up. I'll hold you the whole way home." I say gently.

She slowly lets go of Bianca and I pick her up, she puts her arms around my neck. Bianca opens the door and we go back out to the waiting room. Owen and the others jump up as soon as they see us.

"Is she…how bad?" Eli asks slowly.

"The doctor said it was one of the more violent ones he's seen." I tell them.

"The doctor gave us information for rape support groups and hotlines and we signed her out." Adam says.

"Good Adam get my keys from Bianca, let's get her home." I command and Adam takes the keys.

"What about the cops?" Drew asks.

Clare tightens her grip on me, burying her head in my chest more and shaking it as her crying increases.

"Tomorrow, she needs to rest today. One trauma at a time." I tell them.

Clare is still shaking her head on my chest but I figure by tomorrow she will have had a chance to calm down a bit and at the very least I'll be going with her to the police. We leave the clinic and drive back to the Torres house; I hold Clare in my lap the whole way, carry her inside and set her on my lap on the sofa when we get into the basement.

"Drew order some pizza, we need to eat and she hasn't eaten since yesterday." I instruct when we're all inside.

Drew calls in an order and we all sit in tense silence, every few seconds one of them looks at Clare but she doesn't look up from my chest. We're all angry and we're all worried about Clare and everyone's expressions switch between murderous rage to kill Asher and deep concern over Clare. When the doorbell rings Drew and Adam go up to get the pizza and return with three boxes a couple minutes later. Owen hands me a plate with three slices on it, Clare still has her head buried in my chest.

"Princess you gotta eat." I insist.

She's finally stopped crying but she's gripping my shirt and hasn't looked up from my chest at all.

"Not hungry." She says so quietly I almost don't hear her.

"You need food Clare, come on you have to eat a little bit." I command.

"I'm not hungry." She says a little louder in a slightly firmer voice.

"I don't care, you haven't eaten since yesterday and you need food." I order again.

She sighs, looks away from my chest and takes a piece of pizza, nibbling at it. I mean really nibbling, first she picks off the toppings, then she tears off tiny pieces of crust, then little bits of cheese. When all that's left is crust, sauce and most of the cheese and her slice of pizza looks more like a prosthetic from a horror movie she puts it back on the plate and says she's done. She's hardly eaten anything but a little food is better than none I guess.

"We can't go to the cops Mike he'll come after me again and what about Maya?" She suddenly exclaims.

"Clare you have to go to the cops, they have to know what Asher did." Adam tells her.

"No he'll hurt me again, he'll rape me again and it'll be worse! Then he'll go after Maya! We can't…" she's starting to get hysterical again so I silence her the only way I know how, with a soft kiss and it works.

"We're going to the cops, Asher is going to pay for what he did and he won't touch you again or Maya at all. We'll make sure that he doesn't. I promise you he won't ever touch you again." I tell her.

She starts crying again and suddenly jumps off my lap and runs upstairs. I look at the others but they're all as puzzled as I am, putting my plate down on the table I run up the stairs after her. She's not in the living room or the downstairs washroom so I go up to the bedrooms and Adam's door is the only one closed, I should have known. I try the door and it's locked, so I knock but she doesn't answer, It's a good thing I know how to pick locks. After borrowing a bobby pin from Audra's washroom I pick the lock and open the door. She's sitting on his bed, her legs brought up to her chest and her head down on them but she looks up at me when I come in.

"Princess I promise you…" she cuts me off.

"No no more promises, don't make any more promises." She lashes out suddenly.

I sit on the bed next to her, half expecting her to pull away from me but she doesn't, she does exactly the opposite, she leans on me and lays her head in my lap.

"Princess what do you mean?" I ask putting my arm around her and stroking her hair.

"I know it isn't your fault but don't make any more promises you can't keep." She cries.

"What are you…" then I remember, promising to always save her, that Asher would never have her because I wasn't ever going to let her be alone again. I sigh deeply and my heart sinks, I failed to save her and I broke my promise. "Clare I…" I start but she cuts me off again.

"Don't say you're sorry Mike, they were promises you shouldn't have made because they were impossible to keep. Just don't make me anymore promises." She cries.

I lift her head up to look at me. "Okay not a promise, I'm telling you that you won't ever be alone again. That at least one of us will always be with you. That Asher will not get anywhere near you or Maya because between me, Bianca, Drew, Owen, Adam, Eli, Dave, Luke, Cam and the rest of the team, not to mention Tristan, Zig and Tori you both will be watched and guarded so Asher can't get near either of you." I assure her.

"But you can't all put your lives on hold to watch us." She argues.

"We're not putting our lives on hold Princess, we're making sure you both stay safe and that fucker stays away from you." I affirm.

"Fine but would you stop calling me Princess, I'm not and I don't feel anything like a princess anymore." She gripes.

I cup her chin and kiss her lips softly. "You're my Princess, you always have been and I'm going to make you feel like a princess again so no I won't stop calling you Princess because you still are." I inform her. She smiles the slightest bit and bites her lip and I see a little glimmer of my beautiful Clare coming back. "You want to go back down now?" I ask.

"Yeah okay." She nods.

"Good 'cause I can hear Owen yelling from here about killing Asher and I think seeing you might be the only thing that calms him down." I say just as I hear something break downstairs.

"Yeah I hear him too." She smiles.

I stand up and help her up, interlacing our fingers. "And one more thing Princess, you're staying here with me until Asher is put away and you aren't traumatized anymore." I inform her.

"My mom will never let me and neither will Audra." She argues.

"You were just raped, they'll make an exception." I affirm.

She smiles actually smiles for the first time in days, puts her hand on my shoulder and reaches up to kiss me. "Thanks Mike." She says.

**(ADAM)**

After Clare and Dallas came back downstairs she looked a little better, less nervous and frightened anyway. Eli's mom said he could stay the night and brought him clothes, we didn't tell her about Clare though and I was sure my mom would be okay with Eli staying over. Drew called in sick to work and said he'd sleep in his room tonight, Bianca and Owen said they would stay until my mom got home. Eli called Jake to have him bring a bag for Clare and we said we'd explain when he got here, Clare wasn't too keen on this idea but I assured her she could stay in the basement with Dallas while the rest of us told him. When the doorbell rang, everyone but Clare and Dallas went upstairs to let Jake in.

"Hey Jake come on in and sit down." I say as I open the door.

"Here I packed her toothbrush, change of clothes now what the hell is going on and where is she?" Jake demands.

"She's downstairs with Dallas and you're going to want to sit down." Owen tells him in a more commanding voice and Jake sits down.

We all kind of look at each other wondering who should start, finally Bianca speaks.

"Clare was raped!" Bianca announces.

Jake freezes, he's staring straight ahead, his eyes wide, then he turns red, his fists clench, his jaw gets tight.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN SHE WAS RAPED?! BY WHO?! WHEN?!" Jake yells, slamming his fist onto the coffee table.

"Monday night as she was walking home, by Asher." Eli informs him.

"Her co-op mentor?" Jake questions slowly.

"Yes he's been stalking her for a while and he assaulted her while she was interning. We did what we could to keep her safe and keep him away from her but she didn't even tell us at first." I inform him.

"What do you mean he was stalking her? When did he assault her? Why didn't she tell anyone?" Jake asks in one breath.

"It's a long story, she didn't tell anyone because she was scared, he threatened her. Right now she's frightened and traumatized and we're keeping her here because she feels safer sleeping with Dallas." I inform him.

"We just need you to tell her mom that she's sleeping here, she'll be staying here for a while. We'll take Clare to the police station tomorrow to talk to the cops." Eli tells him.

For a minute Jake doesn't speak or move, Eli puts a hand on his arm and he finally snaps out of it.

"I'll talk to Helen…I don't know what I'm going to tell her but I'll get her to understand that Clare's staying here." Jake says slowly.

"Thanks Jake." Eli nods.

Jake nods slowly, gets up and leaves and we go back downstairs. At five Owen and Bianca leave before my mom comes home. Not long after they leave I hear Mom's car in the driveway and Eli, Drew and me go up to talk her.

"Well Drew you're actually at the house! What warrants this special occasion?" Mom asks in a slightly snide tone. "Always nice to see you Eli will you be staying for dinner?" Mom questions before Drew can reply.

"If it's okay with you I'd like to spend the night Mrs. Torres." Eli tells her.

"As long as it's okay with your parents and you boys get all your homework done. So Drew are you staying for dinner?" Mom asks.

"Actually I'll be staying in my room tonight Mom." Drew tells her.

Mom stops pulling stuff out to make dinner and looks at us. "Is everything alright? You're not sick are you? Did something happen at the loft?"

"I'm fine Mom and the loft is fine." Drew says.

"Then what's going on? I have a full house tonight and your all acting a little suspicious." Mom states.

"Fuller than you think Mom Clare is spending the night too, downstairs with Dallas." Drew blurts out.

"She absolutely is not! Dallas is under my roof now and girls do not spend the night! You must mean a different Clare because the Clare I know would not sleep…" Mom starts ranting and I cut her off.

"She was raped Mom." I inform her.

Like everyone else does when they hear the news she freezes and stares at us for a second. You can't believe you're hearing the words about someone you know, especially someone close to you. Finally Mom lets out a breath but she's gripping the counter like she won't be able to stand otherwise.

"Oh my god is she o…no of course she's not okay that's a stupid question. Has she been to the doctor? The cops? Do her parents know? Can we do anything?" Mom asks quickly.

This is the second reaction from everyone the wanting to help but feeling helpless and lost.

"She went to the doctor, we'll have her talk to the cops tomorrow but she's scared right now." I inform her.

"Jake is telling her parents tonight, we think." Eli says.

"What she needs is to be here with Dallas, they've been dating and she needs to be with him and us, she feels safer when she is. Dallas wants her to stay for a while, the guy that raped her threatened to do it again if she told anyone, to make it worse. Dallas said the doctor told him it was one of the most violent rapes he's seen. Her back is all scratched up because he dragged her across the pavement by her hair and she has a bump on her head because he smashed her face into the wall and…" now Drew's ranting about her injuries so I smack his arm and he stops.

Mom is horrified, she looks completely aghast and it's the only other time I've seen her so utterly speechless! The last time I saw her this much at a loss for words was when I told my family I was Adam and not Gracie.

"Of course she can stay here. Whatever she needs, when your father gets home I'll talk with him about getting a lawyer for her from his office. I think I'll order dinner in is Chinese okay with everyone?" She asks and we all nod. "Good, I'll call you when dinners ready."

"Thanks Mom but if Clare eats at all she'll probably want to eat downstairs." I tell her.

Mom just nods slowly and gets out her laptop to place an order while the three of us go back downstairs.

**(CLARE)**

"You want to sleep in one of my dress shirts?" Dallas asks cautiously.

Everyone was walking on eggshells around me all afternoon and evening. They forced me to eat a little lemon chicken at dinner but aside from encouraging me to eat and reminding me to take my pills we sat in silence while they watched TV. Well other than Adam telling me Audra was fine with me staying over and even in the same bed as Dallas as long as I needed. They had to tell her about the rape but she was also going to arrange a lawyer for me so it was okay. I spent all afternoon and evening just off, I couldn't hold a thought, couldn't speak I was just off. Dallas never let go of me and I was starting to feel safe and secure and not so frightened with Eli, Adam, Drew and Dallas with me and Bianca and Owen before they left.

"Yes." I nod.

Dallas hands me a shirt and I go into the washroom to change, which hurts, moving my arms moves my shoulder blades and it stings like hell. It takes me a while to get ready for bed, when I come out of the washroom Dallas is leaning on the back of the sofa waiting for me.

"I'm going to get ready for bed you sure you want me to sleep in the bed with you? I don't want to make you uncomfortable Princess." Dallas says to me.

"I want you to hold me, I want to know that it's you and not him, I can't do that if you're on the sofa." I tell him.

He smiles, kisses me softly and goes into the washroom to get ready for bed. I get in the bed, the feel of it so comforting, his scent is everywhere and it's immensely consoling. He comes out of the washroom wearing only boxers like always and I relish the sight of him and at the same time I feel suddenly self-conscious and ashamed. I bite my lip and look away but I don't think Dallas noticed. He turns off the light and the room goes pitch black, it's stupid and I feel ridiculous but I'm suddenly petrified. Asher is no longer a man, he's a monster and I feel like he's about to leap out of the darkness and attack me again!

"Mike!" I call out in an absurdly sounding small, high pitched, childlike frightened voice. I sound like I'm three and I'm afraid of the dark.

"I'm here Princess, I told you, you'll never be alone again." He reminds me as he gets in the bed and wraps an arm around me.

I cling to him, I feel so stupid, I'm almost an adult and I'm clinging to my boyfriend and crying on his chest because I'm afraid of the boogey man.

"I'm sorry." I apologize into his chest and between tears.

"Don't apologize you have nothing to be sorry for Princess. You didn't do anything wrong, except for not telling me but I understand why you didn't." Dallas assures me.

"But I'm always so scared, I feel like he's going to attack me right now even though I know he's not here." I snivel.

"Princess you were brutally raped of course you're scared, I'd be worried if you weren't. Just remember none of us are going to let him get near you again because you'll always be with one of us from now on. Mostly me but if I can't be with you then at least one of the others will." He affirms.

"And you'll all be with me when I talk to the cops tomorrow?" I ask even though they all said they would be.

"Yes Princess all of us, even Luke offered to come. We aren't going to let him near you ever again." He tells me.

He lies down and puts both arms around me and it takes a bit of adjusting to find a comfortable position where he's not touching any of the scratching on my back. I wish I never had to leave his arms again. I wish I'd never left them to begin with, then it never would have happened. Then we would be in bed together and I wouldn't be afraid and I could be enjoying the feel of him and not using it as a security blanket. We might even be having sexy time, sensual, soft, tender, loving sexy time.

"It wasn't like being with you." I say when my tears begin to slow.

"What?" He asks and I hear how tired he is.

"With Asher it wasn't like when you and I…not that we had sex but it wasn't gentle at all. It hurt so much, it felt like being stabbed. I couldn't breathe or think and all I could feel was pain. It was humiliating and disgusting and degrading and I felt like trash, worse than trash and I thought you'd hate me when you found out. That you'd never want to touch me or look at me again, I can barely look at myself." I confess to him and now I'm crying hard again.

He squeezes me a little tighter and kissed my forehead gently. "Princess why would you think that? What Asher did was not your fault. He forced you, he raped you! He was violent, you know I'm not. Unless I ever see him again because then I'm going to kill him for what he did. To him you might be nothing but to me you're my Princess and that's how I will always treat you." Dallas tells me.

"You know what the worst part was? Just before he violated me I realized I loved you. I was raped, my first time was being raped by Asher and I wanted it to be with you. I love you Mike." I profess.

"Oh Princess that's not the worst part and you were raped, your first time, your real first time will be with me; when you're ready." Dallas says before tipping up my chin and snatching my lips in a passionate kiss. "And Clare I love you too."

"You do?" I ask.

"Yes I do." He confirms.

I smile and cuddle closer to him, laying a soft kiss on his chest before closing my eyes. I'm still petrified of Asher but with Dallas and everyone else with me I know I can get through this. Listening to his heartbeat and gentle breathing, safely ensconced in his arms I fall asleep feeling safe and for the first time since it happened I sleep all the way through the night.

**Happy faces everybody :-) update soon**


	27. Love Reign Over Me

**Ch. 27 Love Reign Over Me**

**(CLARE)**

"Guys wake up you have to get ready for school." Drew's voice gruff with sleep urges us awake the next morning.

I yawned and blinked my eyes open, feeling Dallas stir around me.

"We'll be up as soon as we're dressed." He yawned to Drew and I heard Drew go back up the stairs. "Good morning Princess." Dallas whispers before kissing my forehead.

"Morning." I yawn into his chest; I push myself into a sitting position to stretch and then wince in a painful breath as soon as I do. Dallas put his hand on my leg and gave me an 'are you okay?' look, I smile at him reassuringly. "It just hurts to move seeing as I have hardly any skin left on my back." I tell him.

He gives me a sort of horrified, sick look, then it turns to pity and then immense rage all in a matter of seconds. I bite my lip and look away and feel him sitting up next to me, he cups my face in his hand and gently moves my head to look back at him.

"I love you." Is all he says in a soft, slightly sleep cracked voice.

Three little words, three very simple one syllable words but they are all I need to hear. I smile, exhale happily and bite my lip. Those three little words instantly make me happy, feel loved and protected and like the princess he keeps insisting I am.

"I love you too." I breathe, the words feeling so sweet on my tongue, a feeling I've never before had when saying them. Dallas smiles and brings our lips together for a soft kiss. "I should probably get dressed before they send Adam or Eli down." I remark when our lips part.

"You want some help?" He offers. "You did say it hurts to move and generally dressing and undressing takes a good bit of moving."

"Thanks but the first time you see me naked I'd rather it not be when I'm all bruised and scratched up." I tell him.

"First of all Princess, I've already seen your scratches and bruises, yesterday at the doctors, you weren't completely naked but still. Second of all I don't care, let me help okay? I'd rather help and see the bruises and scratches then hear you wince in pain." He insists.

"Okay." I nod after a minute of consideration.

He gets out of the bed and goes to the door, presumably to make sure it's locked, then he comes back down and picks up my bag from the floor pulling out the change of clothes Jake brought for me. I get out of bed and stand near Dallas, unbuttoning his dress shirt and he helps me slip it off. I'm immensely nervous and self-conscious as it comes off and my breasts become exposed, they aren't even scratched or bruised. Miraculously they are one of the few places to avoid being directly injured by Asher or scratched when I was tossed into the wooden crates. It's the feeling of being naked, aside from panties, in front of male eyes again. I know these eyes are different, I know Dallas isn't Asher; I know that Dallas loves me. I know it's morning time and we're in Adam's basement, I know it's not night time and I'm not in the alley but even knowing all this a petrifying feeling of fear begins to come over me. I cross my arms over my chest, look down and shut my eyes tight as tears try and break from my eyes.

"Princess are you okay?" He asks and his voice is strained with worry. I bite my lip and nod as words can't seem to form in my throat. "I'm not going to touch you, I'm not going to hurt you, we aren't doing anything remotely sexual I'm just helping you get dressed so you don't have to be in pain." He says in a soft smoothing voice.

"I know," I nod, "I know I'm sorry I just got afraid. I know you aren't going to hurt me, that you aren't Asher but I…" my sentence trails off as my voice cracks.

"Princess look at me." He commands gently. It isn't so much the words as the tone that gets me to open my eyes, so full of love and care and concern. Very slowly I turn my head up again and my eyes open, he's giving me his wonderfully soft big smile. "I love you. You are my princess, I serve you understand? We go at your speed, if your uncomfortable or afraid or you don't want to be touched so much as my hand at your shoulder because you feel Asher and not me then you tell me. I will never force you into anything you don't want to do. You are my princess and I love you. We're going to get you dressed and I promise I'm not going to touch you in any way other than to help you get dressed. If you get scared say something okay?"

"Okay." I nod.

Dallas picks up my bra, I hold out my arms and he slips it on. He goes behind me to hook it and I bite my lip sucking in a frightened breath. I'm not scared of Dallas but now I can't see him and I'm starting to feel Asher.

"I love you." He says softly and this eases my fear.

When my bra is hooked he helps me on with my shirt, then my jeans and every time I tense even the slightest bit he tells me he loves me and I relax. I wait for him to get dressed before we go upstairs to breakfast. Everyone including Audra and Omar are at the breakfast table and they all freeze and look over at us as soon as we're visible.

"Are you kids hungry? There's eggs, bacon, toast, juice and coffee." Audra offers doing her best to keep a smile on her face.

Dallas walks me to the table and I sit down in the seat Audra was occupying.

"Just coffee please." I say.

"Clare that's not food." Adam admonishes.

"You need to eat." Insists Eli.

"At least have toast." Says Drew.

Dallas puts a mug of coffee down for me, Eli passes me the cream and sugar, Omar gets up so Dallas can sit down next to me. Dallas comes to the table a minute later with a plate filled with eggs, bacon and toast for himself and a small plate with two pieces of toast for me. Audra asks when we're going to talk to the cops today and I get nervous, tensing up a little and staring into my coffee. Dallas and Eli are on either side of me and both take one of my hands and squeeze gently.

"During morning break; Owen, Luke and me have to get to the arena by four so we won't have time after school. We'll probably miss a class or two but given the circumstances I don't think anyone will mind." Dallas informs her.

"Nick Williams from Omar's office will be your lawyer and he'll meet you at the station. I spoke with your mother this morning Clare, she agreed that you can stay here as long as you need. She'll bring more clothes for you this evening and if you need anything to call her or let us know." Audra Tells me.

"Thanks Audra." I say trying to smile but it doesn't quite work.

After nibbling away at a piece of toast and drinking my coffee I take the medications the doctor gave me before we leave for school. Dallas is driving the minivan and Drew comes with us to pick up his car. He says he'll meet us at the station in a few hours and waves before he drives off. The four of us walk in together, I still don't have my backpack but Adam says he'll get my book from my locker and take it to Miss Oh's class. I stay with Dallas while he goes to his locker, now that I've been back in the safety of his arms I'm more afraid to be away from him. Owen and Bianca are waiting at Owen's locker talking about something but they stop talking as soon as they see me, there seems to be a lot of that going around lately. They both turn and smile at me, the same sort of protective, compassionate smile the only difference between the two is Bianca's has more compassion in it and Owen's has more protectiveness in it. Dallas tells them we're all going to the station at morning break to talk to the police as soon as he finishes the rest of the team appears. The sudden presence of so many males makes me apprehensive, even though I know them all at least a little. I move between Dallas and Owen and Dallas puts his arm around my shoulders.

"So I take it you two are back together?" Bo asks.

"We never broke up." Dallas tells him.

"But I thought…" Ingvar begins but Dallas cuts him off.

"We never broke up." Dallas says again in a harder and firmer tone.

I realize Campbell is there but not Maya. "Where's Maya?" I ask him doing my best to keep my voice calm.

"She's not here yet, she's coming with Katie and she'll call me as soon as she gets here." Campbell tells me.

"I told Cam everything but not the others, it does kind of involve his girlfriend so I figured he should know." Luke informs me, which explains the nervous yet compassionate look I've been getting from Campbell.

I nod and bite my lip and hide myself between Dallas and Owen a little more.

"I'm still confused as to why we're protecting the two of them." Comments Charlie.

"Because we fucking told you too." Owen snaps.

"It's a need to know basis and all you need to know is we're keeping them safe." Luke tells them.

I'm getting uncomfortable standing there surrounded by guys I don't know that well, while we sort of talk about the rape. "Umm I'm going to go find Adam." I say quietly.

Dallas turns to me with a stern look on his face. "Not by yourself." He says.

"I'll go with her." Bianca offers.

"I'll come get you from drama class." Dallas tells me. He puts his arms at my lower back to kiss me but hits the road rash and I suck in a sharp breath as my face cringes in pain. "Sorry." He apologizes immediately removing his hands.

"It's okay." I say putting my hands on his arms to assure him I'm fine.

He moves his hands to my waist, touching gently to be sure he isn't hitting any injuries and when I don't wince in pain he grips a little harder, lifts me up and presses our lips together.

"I love you Princess." He whispers in my ear as he sets me down again.

"I love you Mike." I whisper back.

Bianca takes my hand and we walk off toward my locker to find Adam.

**(DALLAS)**

A couple minutes before the bell for morning break rings I leave class, Owen meets me in the hall having left his class a minute early too and we head to Clare's drama class. When the bell sounds we're standing on either side of the doorway waiting for Clare. The first person out of the class is Liam who looks at us anxiously and quickly walks away; I think I may have permanently scarred him. Clare comes out next, she kinda smiles at us and looks both relieved and nervous at the same time. I know she's afraid to go to the cops but we have to, Asher can't get away with this. He brutally raped her, traumatized her, dehumanized her and used fear as a means of controlling her. I put my arm around her shoulders, Owen links his arm with hers, if anyone is going to try and hurt her again they'll have to kill us first.

Bianca is already waiting by the door with Adam and Luke, Eli and Dave are walking up from the other side of the hall. Since it's morning break it doesn't look that odd that we all exit the school together. We all pile into the minivan and I drive us downtown to the police station. The closer we get the more agitated and uneasy Clare becomes, I take her hand and tell her again that I love her and she calms a little bit. When we get there, I put my arm around Clare's shoulders and we all walk in together, Drew is there waiting for us and a man I assume is the lawyer Audra got for Clare. He introduces himself as Nick Williams so my assumption is proved correct. He tells the officer at the front desk that Clare needs to report a rape and everyone else is there to give their own statement of events surrounding the rape.

"The rest of you wait here, Mr. Williams you and your client can follow me, I'll find a detective to speak with you." The officer says.

Clare grips my arm and shakes her head, I tighten my grip on her shoulders and kiss her temple gently.

"I'm going with Clare." I say sternly.

The officer looks back at us, looks like she's about to say I can't come but the lawyer stops her saying I'm allowed back with Clare. The officer gives in but says I'll have to give my account separately when were done, which I'm fine with by that time everyone else will be done and she won't be alone. We're led back to an interview room that is small and bare aside form a long table and a few chairs and one of those two way mirrors. We sit down in the chairs on one side of the table; the lawyer gives us some instruction when the officer leaves. Clare is already anxious and agitated and she hasn't spoken a word yet, I put my arm around Clare's shoulders again and bring her close to me, taking her hand with mine and assuring her it will be okay. Finally two detectives come in, one woman and one man; they close the door and sit down across from us. Introductions are made, the detectives tell us this interview is being filmed and they wait for Clare to begin.

"I…" Clare starts but her voice breaks, I squeeze her hand and she starts again. "I was raped Monday night, walking home from the Dot." She says and tears are already coming from her eyes.

"Do you know the man that attacked you?" Detective Grady asks.

Clare nods her head. "Ash…Asher Shostak." She chokes out.

"Wait," detective Moreno, the male detective, says, "Asher Shostak the reporter from the Interpreter?" He questions in a dubious voice. Clare nods her head, tears streaming down her face and she's starting to shake. "Why would Asher Shostak rape you?" He inquires in the same disbelieving tone.

Clare's crying too hard to answer so I answer for her. "He assaulted her when she was interning there, after she left he started stalking her. He's a sick fucking pedophile who became obsessed that's why!" I tell them in an irate tone.

"Mr. Dallas please let Miss Edwards answer the questions." Detective Grady snaps at me before turning to Clare. "Is that true Miss Edwards?" She queries and Clare nods.

"Did you report the sexual assault?" Inquires detective Moreno and the more he talks the less I like him.

Clare shakes her head.

"Why didn't you report the assault?" Questions detective Grady who is at least using a sympathetic tone.

"He threatened me, I was afraid." She chokes out quietly.

"How many times exactly did he assault you? Were there any witnesses to any of these assaults?" Detective Moreno asks still in a disbelieving tone.

Clare is quiet for a couple minutes probably silently counting each time of assault. "About five times while I was still interning there and twice more after I left not counting the rape. There were never any witnesses he was always too careful for that but he came to my school to speak to a class, came to a restaurant we eat at and he sent me flowers." She tells them through many tears and lots of pausing for deep breaths.

"Did he come to your school to speak to your class specifically?" Asks detective Grady.

Clare shakes her head.

"Miss Edwards if you didn't report the alleged assault and he got invited to your school to speak that isn't harassment. Neither is sending you flowers, you're obviously upset but you can't just accuse people of rape." Detective Moreno tells us.

"She's not accusing, she was raped and the assaults were not alleged." I bark angrily.

"Did you ever witness any inappropriate conduct between Mr. Shostak and Miss Edwards Mr. Dallas?" Detective Grady inquires.

I clench my jaw and shut my eyes before looking at the detectives again. "No I only ever saw him touch her shoulder but I saw the way he looked at her and that was inappropriate."

"She's been to the doctor and I have the reports from both visits. Her pelvic exam," the lawyer is telling them and at the words pelvic exam Clare cringes, "shows acute vaginal bruising indicative of rape. You'll also note Miss Edwards other injuries, violent and severe and the personal statements from the doctor and nurse who treated Miss Edwards that this is one of the most violent rapes they have treated." The lawyer says handing the detectives a few papers.

They look over them and look back at Clare, detective Moreno is looking at Clare more like a suspect than a victim and I want to reach over and punch him but I know that won't help anything so I control myself and tighten my grip on Clare instead.

"There was no semen recovered and you waited two days before you went to the clinic at all and three days before you allowed them to do a pelvic exam." Detective Moreno states.

I tense up ready to rip this guy's head off; the lawyer seems to sense this as he puts a hand on my arm.

"I'm sure you are well aware detective that most rape victims are too ashamed and scared to report it right away or at all." Nick says in Clare's defense.

"I assume your assailant wore a condom?" Detective Grady asks.

Clare nods, at this point she's kind of too hysterical to talk, she's shaking and sobbing violently, clinging to me so hard her knuckles are white.

"So where is the condom? Are you positive it was Mr. Shostak who attacked you?" Detective Moreno inquires in an accusing tone.

That was apparently all it took to light the fuse as Clare suddenly exploded. "YES I'M SURE IT WAS ASHER WHO RAPED ME! I SAW HIM! I SMELLED HIM! I FELT HIM AS HE BRUTALLY RAPED ME! I HEARD HIM WHEN HE THREATENED TO DO IT AGAIN MORE VIOLENTLY IF I EVER TOLD ANYONE!" She screams at them from my arms, as soon as she's done she curls into me and hides, even pulling my jacket so that my arms can go around her more.

"My client is being badgered and obviously too upset to talk. I will speak to your lieutenant about having another detective assigned to Miss Edwards's case detective Moreno. Any further questions for Miss Edward's or her friends will be directed through me first. I will have Miss Edwards and Mr. Dallas submit written statements to you by Monday. In the meantime I expect you to question Mr. Shostak about the incidents of assault and subsequent rape, the statements the other kids are providing should provide you ample information to question Mr. Shostak. If I do not hear by five this evening that Mr. Shostak has been questioned then I will bring a suit against this station and the Interpreter." Nick tells them earning him my thanks and respect.

Detective Moreno looks entirely stunned like he can't believe someone actually stood up to him. He's lucky I didn't rip his fucking head off, if he opens his mouth again I just might.

"We will be questioning Mr. Shostak; we'll be in touch later today. Perhaps you better take Miss Edwards home. I presume Mr. Williams that you know the proper procedure for written statements?" Detective Grady asks and Nick nods.

"Come on Princess." I say softly, gently pulling her off of me so we can stand.

She gets up but clings to me as we walk; Luke, Drew and Dave are the only ones in the waiting room when we come out. Drew leaps up and runs over to us putting his hand on Clare's arm. Dave walks over quickly and Luke slowly.

"What happened?" Drew questions.

"The fucking male detective treated her like she was the criminal; he barely believed she was even raped let alone that Asher did it. She's too upset to talk, I need to get her home, she can't go back to school like this and I'm not leaving her side." I tell them.

"I'll be in touch with Omar and Audra tonight and if Miss Edwards is up to it I'll be over tomorrow for your statements." Nick tells me.

I tell him thanks and shake his hand, then Drew hands me his keys.

"Take my car, I'll take the others back to school and come get my car at the house before I go to work." He says.

"Thanks Drew." I nod as I hand him my keys so he has keys to the minivan.

I walk Clare out of the station and get her into Drew's car, going around to the driver's side, I tell her I love her again and kiss her cheek before I start driving home.

"I told you they wouldn't believe me." She cries as we're driving.

"Only that asshole male cop didn't believe you, I'm pretty sure detective Grady does. Anyway Nick believes you and so do we." I assure her, rubbing the back of her neck gently.

"What if they don't charge him Mike? What if he gets away with it?" She asks through her tears.

"He won't get away with it Princess, I won't let him. One way or another he will pay." I pledge to her.

Aside from her sobbing and shuddering breaths, she's silent the rest of the way home. We go straight to the basement and she goes straight to my bed, slipping off her shoes and laying down. She curls into a fetal position and continues to cry. I take off my shoes and jacket and lay down next to her; she turns around to face me and cries into my chest. This feeling of helplessness is terrible, I'm used to solving problems with threats or my fists or some smooth talking but none of that is going to take away her pain or change what happened. I could go beat Asher to a bloody pulp and if he isn't charged for her rape then the first thing I'm going to do is go find him and get revenge. I'll feel better afterward and Clare might feel some sense of justice but it's not going to take away her pain. The pain of watching her in so much pain is almost as bad as when she broke up with me.

"I love you Princess, I'm sorry you went through that. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you but you're never going to be alone again and I will make sure Asher pays one way or another. I love you Clare." I affirm brushing some hair from her face and lightly kissing her nose.

She sniffles her tears, wipes the rest of them away and looks up at me. "I know I love you too. I'm sorry I'm such a mess, we can go back to school if you want, I'm okay I just got upset when the cops sounded like they thought I was lying."

"Oh yeah 'cause I'd rather go back to school than spend the afternoon alone with you. You're not a mess, you're beautiful and I got upset too, I almost punched that guy detective. What can I do?" I ask wanting to make her feel good again.

"You're doing it, just hold me. I promise to stop crying eventually." She says.

I smile, kiss her lips that are wet and salty from tears and hold her tight.

**(ASHER)**

I got a call to come down to the downtown police station to answer a few questions from a detective Grady. So that's where I currently was, in an interrogation room waiting for this lady detective to come in and ask me her questions. I had a feeling Clare had the nerve to talk and if she did she will regret doing so. If she still had the nerve to come forward after last time then I'll just have to be rougher next time.

"Hi Mr. Shostak, I'm detective Carol Grady thanks for coming in so quickly." The lady detective introduces herself as she sits across from me.

"No problem but I am a little confused, what's this all about?" I question.

"You've been accused of rape Mr. Shostak." She tells me in an austere tone.

Situations like these are when my high school acting experience comes in handy. I put on my most shocked and wounded expression, mixed with a little disbelief.

"Rape! Who would accuse me of such a thing?! I would never rape anyone, what a horrible act! Who is accusing me of this unspeakable crime?!" I demand mixing in just enough indignity with my disbelief.

"Do you know a young woman by the name of Clare Edwards? She says she interned at your office." Detective Grady asks.

"Yes of course Clare was a wonderful intern, bright writer. Wait she's accusing me of rape?! I can't believe this after all I've done for her!" I exclaim pounding my fist on the table.

"Mr. Shostak can you account for your whereabouts Monday evening between five and six?" Detective Grady questions.

"I was at home working on a story, I had a deadline and had been onsite, my home was closer than the office so I went there." I reply.

"Can anyone confirm that?" She inquires.

"I'm afraid not, my wife and I are separated so I was home alone. Am I being formally charged? Do you have any evidence against me?" I question in an indignant tone.

"Miss Edwards was raped we have ample evidence of that and quite brutally, frankly it made even me sick and I've handled dozens of rape cases. No you are not being charged Mr. Shostak currently all we have is her word that you raped her." Detective Grady informs me.

"In that case I'm leaving." I tell her getting up.

"Mr. Shostak I am not done with you please sit back down!" She demands.

"I feel terrible that a sweet girl like Clare was raped but it certainly wasn't me and I haven't the faintest idea why she would accuse me of such a thing! I will send my sympathies to her but it was not me and if you are not charging me with anything then I am leaving!" I tell her in the angriest voice I can without yelling.

"You are still a suspect and you can't leave town, nor can you have any contact with Miss Edwards." Says detective Grady.

I give her a hard look and stroll out to my car not worried in the least. Several people see me coming out of the station but I'm down here all the time for stories. Now what to do about Clare? I'll have to keep my distance for a while, avert suspicion but Clare will be very very sorry she ever talked.

**(CLARE)**

"I have to head to the arena; I'm going to drop you at school with Eli, Adam and the others. Stay with them no matter what. If you go to the washroom Bianca and Becky go with you got it?" Dallas asks.

"Don't worry I won't be alone for a minute." I nod.

"I love you Princess." Dallas says kissing me softly.

"I love you Mike." I smile, taking his hand as we walk out to the minivan.

Drew came by a little after twelve to get his car, he told me he'd sleep at the house again and he'd be home about 10:30 since he was closing. I spent all afternoon after talking to the cops, which was pointless and aggravating seeing as they didn't believe me, in Dallas' arms, mostly lying in bed. He made me eat a little for lunch but he never left my side and I rarely left his arms aside from Dallas making us food but I even ate in his lap. We get to school, which let out about fifteen minutes ago and everyone's waiting on the steps, I mean everyone, the team, Becky, Eli, Adam, Bianca, Maya and Tristan. Mike parks the car and we go to the steps to meet them, Mike hands the keys to Adam and then kissed me before he leaves with the team.

"Maybe Becky and I shouldn't go out after the game." Adam says to me quietly when the team is gone.

"No Adam you guys should go out just be careful. I don't think Asher will go after you, he never threatened you or mentioned you at all but…" my sentence trails off as I bite my lip.

"We'll be careful and I'll drop you all at Little Miss Steaks first." Adam assures me.

"Do they know? Becky, Maya and Tristan do they know?" I inquire as we're all waiting on the steps together.

"Jake told Katie, he figured since Maya was specifically threatened that Katie should know. Plus I think he just needed someone to talk to. Maya was told there was a pervert around and to be safe she shouldn't be alone, Tris, Zig and Tori were told to watch her but we didn't get into specifics. Owen told them so I think they just listened are were too afraid to ask questions. Becky just thinks we're all hanging out since we're all going to the game together." Eli informs me putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Drew, Dave and Luke told us what happened at the station. They have to listen there's too many of us for them not to listen and if they don't then we'll find Asher and kill him ourselves." Bianca says in a low voice.

The reminder of how I was treated at the police station almost makes me cry but when Becky comes down a couple of steps to our little huddle I swallow hard to keep the tears at bay.

"Hi Clare isn't this exciting I just love going to Luke's games and we're going in such a big group Bianca I didn't know you liked hockey!" Becky excitedly says in one breath.

"Yeah well I try to get to one of Owen's sports things every few months, show my support like a good friend." Bianca says dryly in perfect Bianca fashion and Becky is none the wiser as to why Bianca's really here.

"You're friends with Owen that's great how long have you been friends?" Becky asks.

"Forever." Bianca shrugs. "I think we should head to the arena I'm sure they'll let us in." Bianca says I think getting slightly annoyed with Becky's questions.

We go back to the minivan and Adam drives us to the arena, parks and we get out. The front door is locked and there's a guard who does recognize me, Tristan and Maya but doesn't want to let us in. Bianca tells him to go ask Dallas, Owen, Luke and the coach if we can be let in so he radios back and through the radio I can hear Dallas and Owen telling them to let us in now! Well they used more swear words but you get the idea. We go in and find our seats, front row of course, behind the bench again. Becky and Adam sit on the end, Eli next to Adam then me and Maya then Tristan and Bianca. We have over an hour till the game starts and about half an hour before they start letting people in, Becky's already talking to Adam and Maya and Tristan are already talking so Bianca moves to the seat behind me so she can talk to me and Eli. At first it's about Asher, I'm not talking but Eli and Bianca are in voices barely above a whisper so the others don't hear. When Eli sees that I'm getting agitated though he changes the topic of conversation.

Finally other people start getting let in, Bianca moves back to her seat and I'm nervously people watching. Not that I think Asher is stupid enough to come to the arena but I can't help it, he's no longer a man in my mind, he's a monster and I'm afraid he's going to leap out and attack me again. Eli knows I'm nervous and takes my hand; he did this when we were dating to calm me down or tell me he was there. I look over and smile at him and do calm down a bit. To get my mind off of things he starts talking about the play and it actually works, time passes quickly and soon the music plays announcing the players are coming out. Dallas blows me a kiss and I blow one to him, Owen and Luke wave as does Campbell after he blows a kiss to Maya.

Once the game starts I forget everything else, Asher, the rape, the assaults the stupid cops it all melts away into the excitement of the game. At least until Dallas makes his first goal and I leap up to cheer and my entire backside screams in pain. My cheer gets cut off by a painful wince, Eli helps me sit down again and tell Becky, Maya and Tristan I pulled a muscle. Now that the raw, healing, scabbed flesh on my backside hurts it's agonizing so I ask Eli to get me a bottle of water and of course he does and I take three of my pain pills. No more jumping for me, I cheer quietly from my seat but at least the game still keeps my mind off of other things. By then end of the first period Dallas and Campbell have each scored a goal and the Ice Hounds are tied with the other team. Dallas, Owen, Luke and Campbell all wave as they go back into the room. Becky starts talking excitedly and loudly, Eli, Adam and I look over at her so I'm not paying attention when there's a chorus of awww from the crowd until Maya tugs on my sleeve and I look over at her.

"Clare look!" Maya squeals pointing to the giant LCD screen above the rink.

I smile widely and let out a blissful gasp seeing a giant heart over which are the words:

**Ice Hounds captain Mike Dallas**

**Loves his princess**

**Clare Edwards**

**Isn't Dallas the bestest boyfriend? Well at least when I write him ;-) update soon continuing from right here.**


	28. My Slumbering Heart

**Hello dear readers, **

**So I had intended this to be longer but it was deadline day at work :-b and I'm very very exhausted. It's about the length of the beginning chapters so it's not all that short but shorter than most of my chapters tend to be. Tomorrow, unfortunately, is super busy however I will be posting the first chapter of my new Flare story "Knight in Shining Hoodie" It just may go up very late. **

**Ch. 28 My Slumbering Heart**

**(CLARE)**

My breathing hitched, my heart fluttered, an entire arena of people just faded away as all I saw was the message for me on the giant TV. I wanted to run into his arms and kiss him like crazy at the moment however I couldn't.

"Awww! That's so sweet!" Maya squealed from beside me, breaking me from my reverie and suddenly the rest of the arena appeared again.

I heard people saying aw and whispering, things. I also felt a lot of eyes on me and knew people from the school must have been looking at me. Anyone that didn't already know Dallas and I wer a couple would know by Monday.

"You two are twitterpated! So adorable!" Exclaimed Tristan.

A few minutes later when the team returned to the ice for the second period I was still beaming and blew Dallas a kiss. It was really hard to watch the game from my seat the whole time, both because I was used to jumping up when the Ice Hounds made a goal and because sitting on healing raw flesh in a hard plastic chair is not fun. I kept shifting uncomfortably but only Eli noticed. At the end of the second period we were ahead by one, the last goal being scored by Luke. We all got up since Maya and Tris wanted to eat, Becky and Bianca wanted a drink and we were all staying together. Standing up after sitting so long was really painful, I sucked in a sharp breath, and scrunched my face in pain. Eli and Adam saw but nobody else did, Eli grabbed my arms to be sure I was okay. I was fine until we got in line and people were pushing and shoving, I got bumped into by some girl, she hit right against my back and I had to bite my lip to stifle my cry and I hide my face in Bianca who was behind me. By the time we reached the front of the line everyone had decided they were at least a little hungry, everyone except me, Bianca bought me a drink to get something in me though.

We returned to our seats and I winced as I sat down again, Eli gave me a look and I smiled at him to assure him I was fine. Less than five minutes into the third period I had to take some more pain reliever the doctor had given me. In the end the Ice Hounds won by two points and the winning goal was actually scored by Owen who got some ice time because Bo got sent to the penalty box for excessive force, which seems like an oxymoron in a hockey game but oh well. We left the arena for the minivan and to make sure no one bumped into me Eli, Bianca and Adam made a sort of human shield around me. Adam was driving so we let Becky have the passenger seat, Tristan and Maya sat in the middle seats and Bianca, me and Eli took the very back.

"Have fun you two, we'll see you later." I said to Adam and Becky as they dropped us off.

"Be safe, I'll see you tonight." Adam said to me and then they drove off.

The five of us went into Little Miss Steaks; Tris, Maya and I didn't even wait for Marisol, just walked straight the back corner. Bianca and Eli followed us, I almost started pushing tables together and then thought better of it. I let the four of them push together four tables while I stood back and supervised. Marisol did bring us menus and Tris and Maya began talking about what they wanted for dessert. They all ended up getting milkshakes, except for me who got water and still wasn't hungry.

"Clare you have to eat something." Eli admonished quietly so Maya and Tristan wouldn't hear.

"I'm just not hungry." I shrug.

"But you didn't eat at the game either." Bianca says.

"I wasn't hungry at the game either." I shrug.

"When did you eat last?" Eli asks.

"Mike made me eat some crackers and cheese around two." I inform them and they both scowl at me.

"That was six hours ago you know when Dallas and Owen get here they're going to make you eat if Dallas has to hold you while Owen force feeds you." Bianca tells me.

I sigh. "Fine when Marisol comes back with your milkshakes I'll order something." I tell them.

When Marisol brings their milkshakes I order a fruit cup and they both scowl at me again. I argue that at least I'm eating, by now Tristan and Maya have caught on to the conversation but since they don't know the reason I'm not eating they're on my side and tell Bianca and Eli that if I'm not hungry then to leave me alone. The team arrives a minute later, Cam sits on the other side of Maya and of course Dallas sits on the other side of me and Owen on the other side of him. The second Dallas is sitting down I unite our lips in a passionate kiss, my lips part and his tongue goes in my mouth snaking around my tongue. If not for the hooting of his teammates after a minute I would have gone on kissing him.

"Thank you Mike, I love you too." I smile when we break apart.

"I just thought the whole world should know you are my princess and I'm in love with you." He says.

I smile wide and know I'm gushing but I can't help it! He takes my hand and interlaces our fingers as Marisol tells them their pizzas will be out in a minute.

"Is that all you're eating?" Owen inquires.

"I wasn't hungry." I tell them, nibbling at a piece of melon.

"Did she eat at the game?" Dallas questions Eli and Bianca and they shake their heads. "Clare you have to eat more than that." He says sternly.

"But..." I start to argue, I am however cut off by an ear piercing whistle from Owen.

"Marisol add an ice cream sundae to our order for Clare." Owen calls to her and she nods, then he looks at me. "Ice cream is easy to eat, not that healthy but at least its food." He says.

There's no use in arguing so I don't, Marisol brings my ice cream and then the teams pizza. I add my fruit to my ice cream and eat it slowly. The team is talking loudly about the game, Tristan has switched seats with Bianca so he and Eli can talk about the play and Maya and Bianca seem to be talking about makeup or hair or something like that. Having eaten roughly half the fruit and ice cream I decide that's enough. I don't really feel full but I didn't really feel hungry either. Come to think of it some of my normal emotions and feelings seem to have numbed while others are heightened. Anger, pain and sorrow for instance both physical and mental. Shame is often present and comes on easily, every time I'm reminded of the rape for example which is often as its hard not to think about it. As I'm lost in my head reflecting on my recent meloncholia I'm broken out of it by Dallas' lips capturing mine and I remember one more very important emotion that was also recently heightened, love. The feeling of being in love and being loved back by that person is wonderfully euphoric and I feel it every time Dallas touches me. He pulls his lips away and I smile at him.

"You okay Princess?" He inquires.

"Yeah I'm fine, just thinking and I'm full." I tell him.

He looks at my half eaten food and glowers at me just slightly but he doesn't say anything instead he gently pulls on my hand that he's been holding this whole time and when I stand he puts me in his lap. His lap is a great deal more comfortable than the chair, he's warm and smells sweet. He turns a little to face Owen, which allows me to lean against him and I decide since Owen is next to him I can stretch my legs across him, so I do and Owen doesn't seem to mind one bit. Now cradled in Dallas' lap, my head resting against his chest and my feet resting in Owen's lap I'm quite comfortable and it occurs to me very tired. Dallas' voice reverberating through his chest making a soothing sort of deep lullaby and soon I'm asleep. I awake with a start sometime later after one of the other players makes a loud whooping sound. I sit up with a gasp, grabbing Dallas' jacket, his arms tighten around me and my eyes blink focusing on Owen's concerned face.

"Maybe we should get you home." Owen says.

"No I'm okay, I just fell asleep and he startled me awake. Really I'm fine it's still early and I don't want to ruin everyone else's fun. I know your taking us home and of course Tris, Maya and Cam and I guess Eli and Bianca too." I say, sort of babbling but my sleepy brain still isn't exactly coherent.

Owen asks if I'm sure and I nod, I snuggle into Dallas a bit more and he goes back to talking with Owen. While still tired I don't fall asleep again and just sort of space out on Owen and Dallas' conversation. After another hour most everyone is ready to go so we leave and go out to Owen's SUV which seats five and there are eight of us, I will sit on Dallas' lap of course and Maya on Campbell's in the back seat with us, Eli will sit between the two couples and Bianca decides she's going to sit on Tristan's lap in the passenger seat. We drop poor squished Eli off first even though his house isn't the closest, I hug him as Campbell and Maya get out of the car to let him out. He says he'll come over tomorrow, says goodbye to the others and waves as he goes inside. Maya assures us her parents are home so Owen drops her off next, she gives Cam a quick peck and says goodnight to the rest of us. Then we drop Cam off and he waves as he gets out of the car. Bianca next, she's been sitting on Tristan's lap this whole time, she also says she'll be over tomorrow. I stay in Dallas' lap as it's the best place in the world for me is in his lap and in his arms.

"Aren't we taking Clare home?" Tristan asks when Owen pulls up outside of Adam's house.

"I'm spending the night here." I tell him.

"She's done it before." Owen informs his brother.

"Oh." Tristan says and I hear the embarrassment in his voice.

Getting out of the car hurts, I hiss in a sharp breath and I see Tristan's head shoot back with worry on it.

"I'm fine just hit my shin on the door." I lie then smile at him. "Goodnight Tris." I say getting out of the car.

"Night Clare." Tristan smiles.

Dallas gets out behind me, his hands coming to my waist very gently to test if it hurts first and when I don't hiss or wince he applies a little more pressure. I walk around to the drivers side and Owen gets out to hug me, Dallas letting go of me to allow him to do so. Owen puts his arms around the middle of my back managing to actually hit the little bit of space not scraped all to heck.

"Thanks for the ride Owen." I say kissing his cheek.

"No problem, I'll drive next week too and I'll be over in the morning." He assures me.

He and Dallas shake hands and bump fists and then Dallas' arm comes around the middle of my back as we walk into the basement. It's just after ten so I know Drew will be home soon and I know Becky's curfew is eleven so Adam should be home not long after. Audra and Omar are home and watching something on the TV in the living room as we can hear it through the open basement door. Dallas kisses my forehead and goes up to tell them we're home,he's up there for several minutes and I go lay on the bed on my stomach since my backside hurts so much. I yawn hearing him talking to Audra and Omar but can't really make out what they're saying, still very tired or maybe just burnt out, mentally and emotionally exhausted after the events of the last few days either way I fall asleep in a few minutes.

**(DALLAS)**

"Hey we're home,Clare's downstairs." I tell Audra and Omar as I come up from the basement.

They look away from the TV, leave it on but get up from the sofa motioning for me to follow them to the kitchen so I do.

"Nick called he told us about the male detective's insensitivity and skepticism." Omar says to me.

"Yeah that male detective was a fucking ass hole! He basically told Clare she was lying! It took all my self control to not just punch him in the face." I confess angrily, through a clenched jaw.

"Nick also said the police don't have enough evidence to charge Asher, he denies everything of course. Bastard pedophile abuses his position as her mentor and rapes her but of course he denies it." Audra informs me, with an outraged look on her face.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THEY DIDN'T CHARGE HIM?!" I yell and then remembering Clare's right downstairs lower my voice. "He fucking raped her, he dragged her across the pavement by her hair and scratched her all to hell. He threatened her, traumatized her, raped her violently and they aren't going to do anything?!" I exclaim enraged as I slam my fist on the kitchen counter.

"They're not giving up son, they will pursue this and talk to Asher again. They do have all the sworn statements from Adam, Drew and the other kids. No one ever saw him attack Clare or harass her in any way though. Unfortunately our belief in her isn't going to convict him but we aren't going to stop fighting." Omar assures me in a calm voice.

"If Clare's up to it Nick will come by tomorrow afternoon to get statements from the two of you. A compelling enough statement from Clare in her own words could convince a judge to go to trial but we are going to need evidence of some kind to get him convicted." Audra says.

Before I can respond the front door opens and Drew comes in.

"What's going on?" Drew asks seeing the angry looks on all our faces.

"They don't have enough evidence to charge Asher and of course he denied everything." I tell Drew with a clenched jaw.

"So he's just going to get away with it?" Drew asks disbelief in his voice.

"Not if we can help it son." Omar tells him.

I feel terrible, angry and helpless, I want to hit something or someone and at the same time want nothing more than to wrap my arms around Clare and never let her go again. Then I remember that Clare is downstairs and I have to go back and tell her Asher isn't getting charged.

"I have to get back down to Clare and tell her." I say in a slightly despondent tone.

"I'll go with you." Drew says.

When we get downstairs I see that Clare is asleep, on the bed on her stomach. I pull her shoes off and cover her with a blanket then Drew and I go sit on the sofa.

"If they aren't going to charge him, we're going to make him pay!" I proclaim in a quiet but ire filled voice.

"I'm all for kicking the crap out of him." Drew says keeping his voice just as low.

"You and me both, I know Owen is too." I say.

"Adam and Eli too." Drew adds.

"Pretty sure even Luke would join us after he heard her tell us yesterday." I admit.

"Great so lets..." Drew stops and looks over at Clare who's thrashing in the bed.

"NO ASHER DON'T NO GET OFF OF ME!" She screams suddenly and I realize she's having a nightmare.

We both leap up going to opposite sides of the bed and sitting on either side of her, Drew puts his hand on her arm and I stroke her hair.

"Clare, Princess wake up its just a nightmare." I say in a calm but firm voice. She continues thrashing, no longer screaming but now she's whimpering.

"Clare you're okay, we're here." Drew says in the same tone.

Finally I kiss her forehead as I can't quite reach her lips and she wakes up. Her eyes shoot open and they have tears in them, she blinks and seems to focus on my face and relaxes a little. She moves to sit up and looks at Drew who smiles at her and she relaxes more. She leans on me, I wrap my arm around her, she turns her head into my chest and starts crying again.

"I've got you now Princess he won't ever touch you again." I assure her, running my fingers through her hair.

"You guys should get to bed, I'm sure everyone will be over tomorrow." Drew says getting off the bed.

Drew goes upstairs, closing the basement door behind him and I pull Clare away from me just enough for her to look up at me.

"Come on lets get you ready for bed." I insist then I pick her up gently although she still inhales sharply in pain.

I set her down in the washroom, helping her off with her shirt and then her bra. She automatically covers her breasts with her arms, I grab the dress shirt she slept in last night from the door handle and when I look at her again she's biting her lip, tears streaming down her face.

"Princess what's wrong?" I ask stroking her face.

She doesn't reply but her arms stop clutching her chest and shoot around my waist hugging me tightly. I sit down on the edge of the tub, guiding her down with me, she straddles my lap, her head falling onto my shoulder as she continues to cry. Her arms move around my neck and I rub what little skin is left on her back gently, the only space not scraped away isn't much bigger than my hand though.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm crying it just started and it won't stop." She apologizes into my shoulder, between sobs.

"Princess don't apologize, you were very viciously raped by that mother fucking pedophile! You have every right to break into tears any time you need to and every time you do I will hold you until you stop." I tell her.

Her crying slows and she kisses my neck softly which causes me to quiver from the touch of her soft lips. She cries for a few more minutes and then slows enough for me to get the dress shirt on her. She takes another minute of just sitting on my lap before she stands, she unbuttons and unzips her jeans and I pull them down for her. She puts her hands on my shoulders while I'm still kneeling down to get leverage so she can get her jeans off. I want so badly to kiss her stomach, caress her leg, lick her soft pussy lips and taste her again but I know she's not ready so I use all my will power to control my dirty thoughts and look up at her. She smiles at me, it's sort of sad but behind the sadness is a happy love. Cupping her face in my hands I kiss her tenderly and when I pull away her smile is bigger and happier. She starts brushing her teeth and I start stripping down to my boxers, I catch her watching me in the mirror and realize this might trigger something.

"Sorry I'll wait..." I start to apologize but she rinses her toothbrush and cuts me off.

"No its fine, watching you undress doesn't bother me in the slightest. I promise the only thing I was thinking while watching you was how much I love you." She smiles putting her toothbrush away and turning to me.

"I love you Princess." I smile before kissing her again.

I finish undressing and quickly brush my teeth, flip off the light and walk out to the basement. She takes my hand and comes with me to turn off the basement light. We walk to the bed and I hear her yawn as I pull up the covers so she can get in. I wait for her to get comfortable, she lays on her side facing me so I lay on mine facing her, gently putting one arm around the middle of her back. Her hands come to my chest as do her lips as she leaves a feather soft kiss and I tremble again. I know I have to tell her that Asher isn't being charged but not tonight, she's too tired and I don't want to upset her again. She yawns against my chest and I kiss her forehead telling her again that I love her.

"I know you do, I love you Mike." She whispers against my chest.

It doesn't take long for her to fall asleep, I'm not tired at all but I'm not leaving her, I'm not taking my arms from her. So I lie awake, listening to her breathe, feeling her heart beat against mine and devising a way to find Asher, beat him to within an inch of his life and not get arrested for attempted manslaughter.

**Update Soon.**


	29. Superboy and the Invisible Girl

**Ch. 29 Superboy and the Invisible Girl**

**(CLARE)**

It was the sound of a very loud car that woke me up earlier than I wanted to be on a Saturday morning. My eyes opened to the lovely sight of Dallas' bare chest, even seen through blurry sleep filled eyes his chiseled chest is a sight to behold. His arms were still around my back, my hands resting on his chest, just how we'd fallen asleep. I yawned and stretched a little and the movement woke him up. His eyes shot open and the first thing I noticed was how red and tired looking they were, he also had dark circles under his eyes.

"Morning Princess." He yawns but with a smile.

"You didn't sleep very much," I frown, "did I do something? Was I restless or…"

He cuts me off with a very soft and loving kiss. "It wasn't you Princess, I just couldn't sleep." He tells me.

"Are you sure? I'm not going to sleep here if I'm keeping you awake." I tell him.

"It wasn't you and you're sleeping here period." He insists.

I sit up and stretch, unfortunately having to leave his arms to do so. I don't stretch very much as the movement hurts the abrasions on my back.

"If I didn't keep you awake then why couldn't you sleep?" I ask him.

"I had a lot on my mind, that's all Princess." He replies, stroking my arm.

I get out of the bed, biting my lip and crossing my arms over my chest. "You mean Asher and the rape. It was my fault you didn't sleep."

I hear him moving on the bed, he puts an arm around my waist and pulls me onto his lap as he's now sitting on the end of the bed. He brushes a messy curl behind my ear and lightly kisses my cheek.

"No it was Asher's fault, not yours Princess." He assures me. "I talked to Audra and Omar last night and they told me Asher isn't getting charged. There isn't enough evidence to charge him. That's what was on my mind last night." He confesses to me.

I push myself up from his lap and walk across the room angrily. "I knew this would happen. I told you I didn't want to go to the cops! They didn't even believe me! There is no evidence because he burned it all! I even dumped the clothes I was wearing in some trashcan! He raped me, he's going to do it again because I told and he's going to get away with it!" I rant angrily as hot, rage filled tears roll down my cheeks and fall to the carpet.

He comes behind me, putting his hands on my arms, stroking down before putting his arms around me and holding me to him gently.

"I'm going to make sure he doesn't ever come near you again. You or Maya, we will keep you safe and make sure that neither of you is ever alone. The detective that didn't believe you isn't on the case anymore. Detective Grady did believe you Princess and we're not going to let Asher get away with it. We'll make sure he pays." Dallas tries to comfort me but I don't feel very comforted, I feel terrible.

"How? There is no evidence Mike! No one is going to believe he raped me! I'm an invisible high school student and he's a well known reporter with a lot of connections!" I cry, wiping tears from my eyes.

"I'm not going to let him get away with it okay? He is going to pay for ever even thinking of touching you just trust me." He pledges kissing my cheek softly.

I want to believe him, that Asher will pay for what he did but right now it feels pretty hopeless. "I'm going to get dressed." I say moving out of his arms.

He lets go of me but catches my arm gently. "Let me help." He says softly.

I shake my head. "I can do it."

"Clare you're hurt, let me help. You know that I'm not going to do anything but help you dress. I know you're angry that Asher isn't getting charged but don't hide behind your anger and not ask for help." Dallas reasons with me.

"I'm not angry Mike, I knew this would happen. I knew there was no evidence. I knew he wouldn't be charged. I knew no one would believe me. I didn't want to go to the cops because I knew it was pointless and Asher would get angry." I tell him in a hard tone. I take a deep breath and wipe away the last of my tears before turning to him, looking at his chest and not his eyes however. "You're right though, you should help me dress."

Dallas walks back toward the bed and puts a suitcase I recognize to be mine on it. "These are the clothes your mom brought yesterday." He says opening the suitcase.

I go over and start picking out a knee length skirt and a button up shirt and of course clean panties. Dallas walks away to the washroom and returns with my bra, setting it on the other clothes I picked out. I start unbuttoning his dress shirt I slept in, he sits on the end of the bed, turns me to him and gently removes my hands from the buttons and he resumes unbuttoning the shirt for me. Talking about Asher and the rape has it at the forefront of my mind, instead of feeling Dallas slowly, gently unbuttoning the dress shirt I feel Asher grinding my back into the cement. I feel Asher, smell him, taste him, hear him. I'm transported out of the Torres basement on a bright Saturday morning and I'm back in the alley on that cold, dark night.

In a desperate need to no longer feel Asher, or hear him or see him. To break free of the prison of being in that alley in my mind, I sit on Dallas' lap, straddling his legs. My arms shoot around his neck and hold tightly as I mash my lips to his. His hands go to my waist gently, as I add more force to the kiss trying to feel Dallas and not Asher. It doesn't matter how hard I kiss him I still feel Asher. The rape may be over, Dallas and the others may succeed in never letting him near me again but it's not over in my mind. It's like being in two worlds; the physical reality that's all around me where I know Dallas is kissing me and holding me, where I know I'm in Adam's basement on a Saturday morning and I'm safe. Then there's the world inside my mind where I'm forever trapped in that alley on that night, bound and gagged in Asher's hands as he brutalizes me again and again.

I start crying furiously, jump off of Dallas' lap and run into the washroom, slamming and locking the door behind me. Going to the opposite wall I sink to the floor, brining my knees to my chest, crossing my arms on them and crying into my arms. I hear the door handle being turned but it's locked and he can't get in so he knocks softly and calls my name. When I don't open the door he knocks a little harder and calls me Princess but I remain where I am, crying into my arms. He stops knocking and I think I hear him walk away, a minute later I hear more sounds of the door handle and suddenly the door opens. I look up at the boy I love with tear filled eyes, and shame in my expression. I'm crying too hard to really see him; I can just make out his form and hear him set something metal on the counter with a soft clink. He sits down in front of me crossing his legs; his hands come to my arms and gently pulls me onto his lap. My head falls to his chest as I continue to cry.

"I'm sorry." I apologize.

He softly brushes some tears from my cheeks which is pointless as more come so he kisses my nose. "Don't apologize Princess you have nothing to be sorry for." He soothes.

"I just didn't want to feel him anymore Mike. I didn't want him to be in my mind anymore, I wanted to feel you but he's always there in my head. I know it's you but I still feel him, see him, hear him. I'm still in that alley, I don't want to be but I am." I bemoan into his chest.

He brushes some hair from my face and holds me a little tighter, which puts pressure on my abrasions and I hiss in a sharp breath but I do it into his chest and I don't think he hears me.

"I know and I wish I could take that pain away for you. If I thought making love to you would make Asher and the rape disappear from your mind and your memory then I would make love to you right now but even before the rape you weren't ready for that. Don't apologize okay, for anything Princess. What Asher did to you is not your fault and the after effects you're experiencing now and probably will be for a while are not your fault either." He assures me.

"I know but I feel bad. I want him gone and out of my head. I want to be with you and feel you. I wanted to stop feeling him so I kissed you. I used you to try and get him out of my mind." I say in a remorseful tone.

"Clare don't feel bad. I want to help you, to make this pain go away, to help you get better but I don't know how. What about going to the rape victims support group or calling the hotline?" He suggests.

I shake my head into his chest. "No I can't do that, it's embarrassing and I don't want to talk about it with a bunch of strangers over the phone or in a group. I didn't want to tell you and the others, I didn't want to tell the cops, I don't want to talk about it with a bunch of people I don't know."

He sighs heavily and I feel his chest get tight, he's silent for a minute and then kisses my head. "Okay then at least talk to me; just don't keep it all inside. If you're with me and you're feeling him then tell me. If it's one of the rare times you're not with me then talk to Adam or whoever is with you okay?" He requests and I nod against his chest. "Why don't we get dressed and go have some breakfast?"

"Not hungry." I shake my head.

"Princess you need to eat something." He scolds.

He manages to pick me up and stand at the same time and carries me out to his bed again. He slips the dress shirt off me and lays it on the bed, slips my bra on and goes behind me to hook it. My tears have finally abated and I wipe them away.

"How'd you get in the washroom I locked the door?" I inquire as he helps me on with my shirt and I start buttoning it.

"Same way I got into Adam's room when you locked the door, I know how to pick locks." He shrugs and I scowl at him.

He just laughs and kisses me tenderly. He finishes helping me get dressed and then he dresses and we go upstairs as he insists again that I need to eat. Audra and Omar are awake and eating breakfast, they both stop and look at us when we come into view and give me a sort of sad compassionate smile.

"Good morning Clare you want some breakfast?" Audra asks me and I shake my head.

"You need to eat." Dallas says in a commanding tone.

"Dallas I made pancake batter would you like some? I'm sure Clare will get hungry once she smells the pancakes cooking." Audra tells him.

"Thanks Audra." Dallas smiles as he goes to sit down and gently pulls me to the seat next to him.

"Can I get you anything Clare?" Audra offers as she stirs the batter.

"Just coffee." I say quietly.

She stops stirring the batter, and pours me a cup of coffee from the pot setting it in front of me and I smile at her.

"If you feel up to it today Nick will come to the house to get official statements from you and Dallas." Omar informs me as he gets up from the table and takes his plate to the sink.

I bite my lip and look at Dallas; he takes my hand and squeezes it to tell me he'll be with me.

"I guess so." I reply quietly although I honestly don't see the point in making a statement now but I'm not up to arguing about it either.

"I'll go call him, arrange it for later this morning." Omar says and starts going up the stairs.

I can smell the pancakes cooking on the griddle but I'm still not hungry. I'm not the only one who smells the pancakes cooking though as I hear fast footsteps on the stairs and a few seconds later Adam and Drew appear.

"Sweet pancakes." Drew yawns sleepily.

"I'm starving, make me a lot." Adam requests.

He sits down next to me and gives me a light hug; Drew sits next to Dallas and gives me the same smile as his parents.

"How was your date with Becky last night?" I ask Adam.

"It was good; we both had a good time." He smiles happily and I can tell he really likes Becky then his face turns serious and pensive as he looks at Drew and back to me. "Drew told me that Asher isn't being charged yet, I'm sorry Clare." Adam says in a sad tone.

"We'll make sure he pays." Dallas speaks in a hard and determined tone.

"Nick's coming to do our official statements; your dad's calling him now." I inform them while I become fascinated by my cuticles.

"Adam and Drew set the table for the four of you." Audra instructs.

"I'm not hungry." I insist again.

No one says anything but the three boys give me the same look. Adam and Drew get up and get out plates and silverware, setting some in front of me despite my protests. Drew sets out napkins while Adam puts syrup on the table and then Audra sets a large plate piled high with pancakes in the middle.

"Adam and Drew clean up when you kids are done eating. I'll be upstairs with your father for a while. Clare if you need anything sweetie let us know." Audra says.

"Thanks Audra." I smile a little.

She smiles and goes upstairs. Dallas puts a pancake on my plate and drizzles syrup over it.

"Eat." He commands as he, Drew and Adam start fighting for the rest of the pancakes.

"I'm not…" I start again but they all cut me off.

"EAT!" They command together.

Further argument is obviously futile so I give up and cut my pancake into little bitty bites. While the boys start wolfing down their pancakes and looking like a game of hungry hungry hippos I'm very slowly eating my pancake one tiny bite at a time.

"Do you work today?" I ask Drew when I've finished my pancake and am just sipping at my coffee.

"I'm supposed to but I can call in sick." He offers after swallowing a large bite.

"No don't do that, I don't want you to miss work. Mike will be with me all day and Adam too I'm sure." I tell him.

Adam puts his arm around my shoulders and smiles at me. "Of course I'll be with you all day and I know Eli is coming over." He assures me.

"Yeah and so will Owen and Bianca. Luke would probably come over if you want him to and Dave." Dallas reminds me.

I shake my head. "Dave is probably hanging out with Alli and I'm not ready to tell her yet. If Becky found out Luke was coming over she'd want to come over and see Adam and she'd know something was wrong. I'll have you, Adam, Eli, Bianca and Owen, and Drew until he goes to work. I'll be okay, as okay as I can anyway. What about Maya? She's protected isn't she?" I inquire.

"Cam's going to her house today with Zig, Tori and Tristan and Katie will be there all day." Dallas assures me.

I nod and sip my coffee watching the boys as they finish eating, doing all I can not to think about Asher, the rape, his threats or anything else really. It doesn't work of course.

**(DALLAS)**

"I'll take these down to detective Grady. You did very good Clare; it's very detailed it will help." Nick tells us as he holds our written statements in his hand.

Clare is crying in my lap for the fourth time since we started on them. I'm holding her tightly and I'm sure I'm hurting her as her back is all scraped but she doesn't seem to care. Her arms are tightly around my neck, her head on my shoulder, my shirt has been thoroughly soaked by tears in the last few hours but I don't care. Adam, sitting at my side, is stroking her hair gently; Eli is at my other side holding her hand. Bianca and Owen are sitting on the floor nearby.

"Of course it's detailed, I remember every horrid second of it and every painful detail!" She snaps angrily.

Nick seems to know it isn't directed at him because he doesn't even flinch. "I'll call Omar and Audra as soon as I know something. If you have any questions give me a call." Nick says.

"Thanks." I tell him.

He gives me a smile that says he wishes he could do more and goes upstairs.

"It's not going to do any good! It's still my word against his! There's still no evidence of anything! I'm just going to look like the stupid invisible high school girl and he's still going to be the great Asher Shostak who can do no wrong. They aren't going to charge him; they aren't going to do anything!" She cries against my neck.

For a few minutes we all sit in silence, well aside from the sounds of Clare sobbing. Eli, Bianca and Owen arrived just as Drew was leaving for work and a short time later Nick came to get our statements. Mine, including everything she ever told me, was nine hand written pages, it was hard to write but I never cried. I felt tears at my eyes, got angry and stayed angry but did my best to hide this as Clare was already very agitated and upset. We sat together on the floor, her on a cushion to make her as comfortable as possible, using the coffee table to write on. Her statement took her almost four hours and was over twenty pages when she was done. She wrote fast and furiously and cried almost nonstop but she never said anything. I had an arm around her the whole time and the others all took turns sitting on the other side of her or behind her.

"Why don't we go eat lunch at Little Miss Steaks." Owen suggests.

We all nod in agreement. I know when we get there, she's going to tell us she's not hungry and we're all going to insist she eat something. For now though all she says is she needs her purse and leaves my lap and my arms to get it. Adam goes upstairs to tell his parents we're going and comes back down saying Audra said to take the minivan. We all pile in, Adam drives and Eli takes the passenger seat, Owen and Bianca take the middle seats and Clare and I get in the very back. I sit on the passenger side; she sits in the middle buckles up and then lies on her side putting her head in my lap. When we get to the restaurant Marisol gives us a curious look most likely that we're all hanging out on a Saturday, her look gets even more curious when she sees Clare. She isn't crying anymore but it's obvious she has been crying and she looks distressed. Marisol doesn't say anything though, just takes us back to a booth. Clare sits between me and Owen; Bianca, Adam and Eli sit across from us.

"I'm not hungry." Clare almost whispers as soon as Marisol walks away from the table.

"You have to eat something Princess, at least get fruit or ice cream or something small." I insist.

"Not hungry." She shakes her head.

"Clare there are five of us and one of you and we all need you to eat. You know I'll just force feed you if you don't eat anything." Owen informs her.

She scrunches her face in displeasure and then sighs. "Fine if Marisol comes back get me a fruit cup, I'm going to the washroom." She says pushing at Owen so he'll move and allow her to get up from the booth.

The washrooms are right by us and visible from where we're sitting so I'm okay with her going alone. Besides I want to talk to the others without Clare in earshot and this might be the only opportunity. Owen stands up allowing her out of the booth, she gets up and he sits down again, I wait until she's in the washroom before I start talking.

"I hate it but I'm sure Clare is right and Asher won't get charged, there just isn't enough evidence but I'm going to make sure he pays. I was talking to Drew last night and we're all for beating the bastard to within an inch of his life." I inform them.

"He told me, count me in." Adam nods.

"Yeah me too." Eli agrees.

"You know I'm in." Owen says.

"Hell yeah." Bianca exclaims.

"Good and I'm pretty sure Luke's in too but if we tell Clare she'll try and stop us so as much as I hate keeping things from her, it's better if she doesn't know about this. We also need to figure out how to do it without getting caught. If we all end up in prison for attempted murder it isn't going to do Clare any good." I tell them and then see Clare coming out of the washroom. "Here she comes, not a word."

Clare comes back to the table, Owen gets up so she can sit down again and she gives all a look as she does. Owen sits back down just as Marisol comes to take our order. For the rest of lunch we talk about anything but the rape, Ice Hounds games, Eli and Adam's play, bright sparks, school anything we can think of. Clare doesn't say much and just like at breakfast she sort of nibbles at her food. The drive home is just like the drive there, her lying down, head in my lap but at least she's not crying this time. I wish I could make her happy again, cheer her up, make her pain go away but I can't or at least I don't know how. If there is a way I'm sure she doesn't know either, I'm also sure everyone else feels the way I do. When we get back I see her mother's car parked next to the house, so I know at least her mom is here but I figure probably Jake is also here.

"You're mom's here Clare." Adam tells her as he pulls into the drive way.

Clare gets an odd look on her face, somewhere between fear, displeasure and relief. We all get out of the car and go in, as soon as the front door is open we hear Helen and Audra talking but when they hear us they fall silent. Clare is already holding my hand but she gets close to me and grabs Bianca's arm as she's next to her. Clare seems to be making a shield to protect herself from her mom, although I'm not entirely sure why. When we walk into the house from the entry I see Audra, Omar, Helen, Glen and Jake all sitting at the dining room table and they all look at us. Helen hops up and comes over pushing me and Bianca away to hug her daughter, Clare maintains a tight grip on my hand and Bianca's arm though.

"Ow." Clare whimpers when her mom hugs her too tightly around her injured back.

Helen looks scared and steps back, keeping her hands on Clare's arms and literally holding her daughter at an arms length.

"Oh baby why didn't you tell me you were being harassed? Why didn't you tell me about the rape?" Her mom inquires.

Now Clare looks irate. "So you could what Mom?! Send me away like you did Darcy so you didn't have to deal with it?" She spits angrily her tone laced with venom.

"Clare…" her mom starts sounding both angry and appalled but Clare interrupts her.

"Even if I wanted to tell you about any of it, even if I thought you would listen I couldn't Mom. He threatened me! The only reason they knew about the harassment," she roars pointing at us, "is they mostly found out by accident. I didn't want you to know, I didn't want them to know, I didn't want anyone to know Asher sexually harassed me. I thought it would be done with when I wasn't interning any longer. I just wanted it to be over; I wanted him to go away! I never thought he'd rape me!" She screams at her mother; let's go of me and Bianca and runs down to the basement.

I of course run after her, as do Adam, Eli, Bianca, Owen and Jake. When we get down to the basement she's sitting on the bed, looking at her hands, a distressed expression on her face but she isn't crying. I sit down next to her, putting my arm around her and she leans on me. Adam sits on her other side taking her hand and the others stand close by.

"Clare you're mom's worried about you, we all are. Why didn't you tell us? The guy sent you flowers and you never said anything." Jake says.

At the reminder of the flowers me, Adam, Owen, Bianca and Eli tense up. Clare on the other hand picks her head up, her fists clench and she's glaring at her stepbrother with fire in her eyes.

"You weren't around when Darcy was raped you don't understand! Our parents didn't deal with it Jake! They didn't listen to Darcy they didn't help her through it! Dad went into the arms of another woman and Mom ignored it because we were good church going folk and that stuff just doesn't happen to us! Darcy was drugged, she barely remembered anything at all and it still drove her to attempt suicide! Well I remember everything! I wasn't drugged; I was awake for every terrible painful second of Asher's brutal assault! I didn't say anything because I couldn't! I was scared and ashamed and I couldn't say anything, about the assault or the rape!" She growls at Jake.

"Clare…" Jake starts but she cuts him off.

"Don't just don't Jake I'm not talking to you or her, she won't listen, she won't deal with it and I'm not ready." Clare states through clenched teeth standing up quickly, tearing herself from my arm and Adam's hand as she heads straight for the door.

"Clare where are you going?" I question as I get up and follow her.

"I don't know, out I need to go out, I need a distraction." She says.

Everyone but Jake follows us, I hear Adam ask Jake to tell his mom we went out again. We go back out to the minivan and get in and Adam starts driving.

"So where are we going?" He asks after a few minutes.

Clare looks thoughtful for a second. "Miniature golfing, I want to go miniature golfing." She says to Adam but looking at me.

I smile, knowing she wants to go there because that's where we went on our first date. We arrive a few minutes later and go in, we pay for a round of golf and everyone does their best to have a light and happy attitude and have fun. Clare seems to be in a better mood from the second we get there, or is doing a miraculous job of putting up a front. While I, and I'm assuming the others can tell that the motions of hitting the ball are agonizing and troublesome for her she doesn't say a word about it. We play three rounds before breaking for dinner, Clare actually eats, not much but she does eat. She still doesn't want to go home when we're done eating so we play in the arcade a while. She, despite the pain I know she's in, plays air hockey with me and then Owen. She plays a few games of skee ball and pinball. We head home around ten, and while I know Asher and the rape were on everyone's mind we didn't talk about it the whole time we were out.

"I have to get home before curfew but I'll come over tomorrow." Bianca says when we get back to the house.

"Thanks Bianca." Clare says giving her a sort of half smile but a good hug. Bianca waves to the rest of us, gets in her car and drives off.

"I should probably head home too but I'll be back tomorrow." Owen assures her and she hugs him tightly.

"I could probably spend the night again if you want me to." Eli offers.

She gives him a genuine smile, a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Eli but I know Drew's sleeping here again. Go sleep in your own bed just come back tomorrow." She requests.

"I'll be over first thing in the morning." He tells her.

"I'll give you a lift home Eli." Owen says.

They wave to the rest of us, get in Owen's SUV and drive off. The three of us go in through the basement even though I'm sure Audra and Omar are asleep. Clare isn't tired and she's trying really hard to pretend the whole thing never happened right now so the three of us start watching a movie. Drew comes home a short while later and joins us, when the first movie ends Clare says she wants to watch another so Drew puts one in. He, having worked all day, gets tired about half way through, hugs Clare and goes up to bed. Adam stays awake for the duration of the movie but is half asleep by the end and says goodnight, hugging Clare and going up to bed.

"Let's watch another one." She insists when Adam is upstairs.

"Princess, staying awake all night isn't going to make it go away and you need to sleep." I tell her.

"I'm not tired and it's too quite with the TV off." She argues.

"Okay we'll watch another movie but let's get ready for bed first." I stipulate.

She nods and I get up to retrieve the dress shirt from my bed.

**(CLARE)**

I woke with a start, breathing hard in short frightened gasps, my heart pounding, tears streaming down my face, I'm sweating but trembling. Dallas wakes up of course and holds me tighter, kissing my forehead, my head falls to his chest as I continue to sob.

"You're safe Clare, its okay I have you you're safe." He assures me. "He can't get you, he'll never get near you again, I won't let him."

I shake my head into his chest, sniffle and swallow hard in an effort to slow my tears to be able to talk, it doesn't succeed. Finally after several more minutes of sobbing my tears subdue at least enough that I can speak.

"That's not what the nightmare was about, he didn't have me, he wasn't hurting me again, not like that. There was a trial, only Asher wasn't on trial I was. Asher brought charges against me and everyone believed him! I was ridiculed, mocked and condemned. Made out to be a crazy stalker girl and he appeared to be the hero." I tell him.

He kisses my head again since he can't tighten his arms any more. "Listen to me Princess I am not going to let that happen. He is not going to get away with hurting you and he is never going to hurt you again in any capacity. He is going to be exposed for the bastard pedophile he is and no one is going to see him as the hero. I love you Clare, I'm not going to let him hurt you." He tells me.

"I love you too and I know you aren't going to let him near me again but you can't keep him out of my head." I argue.

Rather than argue back he tilts my chin up and captivates my lips in a loving kiss. My hands move up his chest circling around his neck, my lips part deepening the kiss. I don't feel Asher; I feel Dallas' soft lips gently kissing mine, his warm tongue tenderly stroking mine. I don't smell Asher, taste him, see him or hear him. I'm not in the cold alley being brutalized, I'm in Dallas' bed in his arms, being loved and cared for. Asher, the harassment, the rape, the cops, the feelings of hopelessness, fear and dread fade to the back of my mind, sort of drift away. For a moment, as long as my lips are on Dallas', it's as if it never happened, I don't even feel the pain from my injuries. The second his lips leave mine it all comes back in a tempest of terror so I take a deep breath and hastily compress my lips to his again.

**Update soon from right here.**


	30. Alright for Now

**Ch.30 Alright for Now**

**(CLARE)**

His lips part again, his tongue coming into my mouth. After a couple of minutes he relaxes into the kiss even more, his hands begin roaming up my back hitting the healing, scabbing, raw flesh. I whimper into the kiss and he pulls away.

"Sor…"

I don't even let him finish his apology before my lips are on his again. All I know is I need to feel him, feel his lips, his breath, his touch. I need to breathe in his scent; I need to hear his deep breathing because as long as I'm locked in a kiss with Dallas and in his arms then Asher can't even get into my head. I kiss him as if my life depended on it because in a way it does. I'm breathing his breaths, my heart beating with his our skin touching, exchanging heat. He keeps one hand on the undamaged skin at my back and the other goes to my arm, caressing up and down and then up to my hair combing through my messy curls.

He tries to pull away after a few minutes but I move my hands to the back of his neck and hold him there with all my strength. All I can think is if kissing him is working this well then maybe if we have sex it'll erase Asher completely. I move one hand down his arm till I find the waist band of his boxers and slip my fingers underneath. He jerks just slightly and uses some force to push me away from the kiss, holding my arms firmly. As soon as my lips aren't on his, as soon as my body is pulled away from his Asher, the rape and all the emotions connected to them come rushing back and I burst into tears. My head drops to his chest and he runs his fingers through my hair.

"I'm sorry." I wail into the space between our bodies.

He kisses my head and rubs my arm gently. "Didn't I tell you to stop apologizing? It's not your fault Princess. Don't apologize for how you feel. Don't apologize for wanting to feel me instead of that bastard. If you want to kiss me all night then do it but we're not going to have sex Clare, at least not now and not like this. You weren't ready for sex before the rape and even if you were you're back is scratched all to hell and you're bruised. Even if I was gentle as I could be it would be nothing but painful for you and I don't want that. When we make love I want it to be pleasurable for you, I want you to feel nothing but love and bliss, I mean you'll feel some pain at first but I don't want that to be all you feel." He tells me, I move a little closer to him pressing my arms and hands to his chest near my head and kiss his skin through my tears since I'm crying too hard to talk. He circles both his arms around me again and kisses my forehead. "You want to go back to kissing?" He offers trying to suppress a yawn and I hear how tired is.

I shake my head against his chest. "Crying to hard." I choke out between sobs. "Just hold me please." I request.

"Of course Princess." He says.

He holds me tight and whispers he loves me and even though he tries to stay awake for my sake he's asleep within a few minutes. His arms around me get looser and heavier when he falls asleep but there's still a measure of comfort to being in his arms. I'm not sure how long I stay awake sobbing but I cry myself to sleep. Feeling him move to get out of bed the next morning is what wakes me up.

"Mike." I say startled as my eyes shoot open and my hand grasps his arm tightly.

He leans over and kisses my lips softly. "I'm just going to the washroom; I didn't mean to wake you. I'll be back in just a minute." He assures me.

I nod and let go of his arm allowing him out of the bed. I watch him walk to the washroom and sit up in the bed which hurts! You know when you skin your arm or something and it's been healing for a couple days, the skin around it is all tight because of the scabbing and moving hurts because you're pulling at the already tight skin; that's how my entire backside feels. Not just that but the bruise on my stomach is still sore and the ones on my shoulders too I won't even talk about the bruises and the perpetual sore feeling below my waist and between my legs.

It's late morning, and there's plenty of light filtering through the curtains over the sliding glass door into the basement and I can hear Dallas in the washroom but being alone I still feel like Asher is in the room with me, like he's about to take me and rape me again. I curl my knees up to my chest; wrap my arms around them, when Dallas opens the washroom door I jump a little. He comes to the bed and wraps his arms around me, kissing my temple and I put my head on his chest. The urge to kiss him is so strong, not to kiss him because I love him, not to kiss him because I want to, because I want to feel him. No I want to kiss him because I want to get Asher out of my mind and off my skin, because I want to forget about Asher and the rape if even for a minute. I stop myself though, I hate using him for that purpose I hate feeling this way, I even hate him telling me to not apologize.

"You want to get dressed and go eat breakfast? I can hear everyone else up." He says.

"I'm not hungry." I shake my head and I hear him sigh. "You go and eat I need to bathe anyway, it's a long and tedious sponge bath process." I tell him.

"Can I help?" He asks.

I know letting him help would be easier but standing naked in front of him all battered and scraped while he washes me like I'm totally helpless sounds horridly embarrassing and demeaning. I'm sure Dallas would be sweet about it and not say anything or try and make it awkward but still.

"No I can do it, you go eat." I insist starting to move out of his arms.

"Clare…" he begins to protest holding me firmly.

I turn and cut off his protesting with a quick, soft kiss. "It will hurt but I can do it on my own. I'm all scratched up; I don't have any broken bones or anything. I'll let you help me dress and undress. I need to do this on my own." I insist to him.

He looks at me a minute and then sighs in defeat and nods slowly. "Okay but call upstairs if you need me." He resigns.

"I will." I promise him.

He clutches my chin between his thumb and finger and brings my lips to his for another quick soft kiss. I want to keep kissing him, to push him back and straddle his lap but again it's not for a need to feel him, it's not because I love him it's for pure need of wanting to get Asher out of my mind so I restrain myself. I know he says it's okay and he doesn't mind but I don't feel it's fair to him. He leaves the bed and gets dressed and starts to go upstairs when I stop him.

"Mike." I call a little nervously and he looks back at me. "Could you make sure the outside door is locked and no one's out there please?" I request.

He smiles a little. "Of course Princess." He goes to the sliding glass door, pulls at it to show me it's locked and I see him look through the yard. "The door is locked and no one's out there, your safe." He says coming over, taking my hand and helping me up from the bed. "Do you want me to stay down here? I won't go in with you but I could stay down here while you bathe so you feel safe." He offers.

We're standing facing each other his hands on my waist, my arms on his, my hands resting in the crooks of his elbows. I smile at him appreciatively, sure that my eyes are glowing with love, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him but pulling my lips away quickly so I don't keep kissing him for want of making Asher vanish.

"That's sweet Mike but you need to eat and I need to face this fear sometime. I can't always be with someone and feeling like Asher's always there, about to jump out and grab me that feeling isn't going to just go away. I'll be okay, I'll lock the washroom door and I'll be okay." I assure him as much as myself.

"Okay." He nods turning for the stairs again and I catch his arm.

"Just uh don't leave the kitchen and come right away if I need you." I beseech him.

He gives me a loving smile and kisses my cheek. "I will either be in the kitchen or down here and if you call me I will be down here in a millisecond." He promises me.

"Kay." I nod.

I leave his arms and walk to the washroom locking the door behind me. I hear Mike go upstairs as I take off his dress shirt; turning on the bath I adjust the water to luke warm. I slip off my panties and step out of them kicking them by the door with the dress shirt. I don't plug the bath theres no point since the bandages aren't supposed to get wet. Grabbing a washcloth I step into the tub, take down the bottle of body wash and kneel on the tub floor. Moving slow hurts, moving fast hurts, bending smarts, stretching stings; my whimpers and sharp pained gasps echo in the small washroom and it feels like washing my body takes forever. Finally done I get out and wrap a towel around my body but I leave the water on to wash my hair. I pull down the shampoo and conditioner setting them on the side of the tub, kneeling over the tub wall to put my head under the faucet.

I can't even wash the better part of the backside of my body and yet it feels like it takes forever to get clean but maybe it's just all the pain I'm in. Once I'm done I turn off the water and stand using a second towel to wrap my head and dry my thick and unruly hair. I leave the washroom to get dressed going to my suitcase and sitting on Dallas' bed to pull out some clothes. I know I should probably call Dallas to get me dressed but I'm already hurting everywhere, the pain and discomfort of getting dressed really won't make that much of a difference. Just as I slip my shirt over my head and finish dressing there's a knock on the sliding glass door, I gasp and jump then freeze. My logical mind, what little I have left, tells me that Asher would not be knocking. The rest of my mind, the part that went crazy, tells me it's Asher and he's coming to rape me again. There's another soft tapping against the glass and then someone speaks but it's not Asher.

"Clare, I just came to talk and see how you were." Jake calls.

I let out a relieved breath and go to the door pulling the curtain back a little to be sure that it's him. How Asher would imitate Jake's voice so perfectly I don't know but as I said I've lost my mind. Jake is standing on the other side of the glass looking humble and worried; I unlock the door and let him in.

"Hey you don't look like you slept much." He comments as I shut and lock the door again.

"I didn't." I say quietly.

"Are you…do you…can I…" he stumbles over his words.

Everybody does, they don't know what to say or how to help they all walk on egg shells around me afraid to say the wrong thing and set me off. Problem is I don't even know what will set me off it could be almost anything; it could be no reason at all.

"Look I didn't mean to snap at you yesterday it's not you I'm mad at or my mom I just…" My sentence trails off as I turn away from him and lean on the back of the sofa.

"I know Clare and so does your mom we just don't understand why you didn't say anything. I mean this guy was your mentor and he abused his authority and harassed you and you kept silent about it. Kept silent to your family anyway but it seems everyone else knew." Jake accuses and his tone rises a little with each word.

**(DALLAS)**

At her insistence I leave Clare to go upstairs and eat breakfast. The whole Torres family is at the table and I know they're talking about the rape or the case against Asher because they all fall silent when they see me.

"She's still downstairs." I tell them.

"Nick called earlier, the crown attorney won't prosecute says there's not enough evidence it's all circumstantial. Clare's statement and the rest of ours are compelling but it's not enough, he can be charged but they won't prosecute they'll just let him go." Adam tells me angrily.

"Clare can file harassment charges for the workplace harassment but that's all circumstantial too." Omar informs me.

There's bacon and eggs on the stove and I grab a plate although I've kind of lost my appetite.

"We're meeting with Nick and Clare's parents this afternoon to discuss other options. We're not giving up guys; we're not going to just let him walk away scott free." Audra assures us.

"No we're not but you all need to be prepared this isn't going to be quick, it could take years to even go to trial and that's if we get enough evidence to charge and prosecute." Omar tells us.

The room goes silent; Drew and Adam have the same sort of irate, disappointed, hopeless look on their face. I'm pretty sure it's the same look I have on my face.

"We have some errands to run this morning, make sure Clare eats something when she comes up boys." Audra instructs after a few minutes of angry quiet.

"We will." Adam nods.

The Torres parents go upstairs and I look at Drew and Adam. "There's no evidence Asher was too smart for that. There isn't going to be a case but he's still going to pay because we're going to make him." I affirm to my billet brothers with clenched fists and a hard jaw.

"I'm all for beating him to a bloody pulp but we have to be smart about it. None of us can get caught." Adam reminds us.

"Yeah I know it's not going to do anyone any good if we end up in prison for attempted manslaughter." I agree.

"Yeah and he'll probably claim victim. None of us can be seen or heard by him, especially the three of us and Owen because he knows our faces and our voices." Adam says.

"We need to plan this with the others. Can you come to school for lunch tomorrow?" I ask Drew.

"Yeah no problem." Drew nods.

"We'll get Clare to eat with Alli and Jenna or maybe Maya and Owen's brother and their friends. We'll plan at lunch, we can eat in the storage room so it's private and no one else can overhear." I tell them.

They nod and I start eating, Drew has the day off so the conversation turns to what do with Clare today, how to keep her happy and her mind off of things. Audra and Omar leave as I finish eating and just as I get up to rinse my plate I hear a muffled but slightly raised male voice coming from downstairs. I drop my plate and run for the basement door, either Drew and Adam heard it too or they're just following my lead because they leap up and are right behind me as I rush down to the basement ready to kill someone. Clare gasps and looks to the stairs as the three of us jump the last several steps ready to kill but its only Jake.

"It's just Jake, trust me you would have heard me scream if it was Asher but thanks for coming so fast even when I didn't call for you." Clare says coming to me and kissing my cheek. She smiles at Adam and Drew and takes my hand. "Jake just came over to talk, you guys can go back upstairs and eat." She insists.

"We all ate." I tell her as I pull her to the sofa and sit with her on my lap. Drew and Adam sit on either side of us and Jake sits in the corner turning to face Clare. "So what did you come to talk about?" I ask Jake. I know her stepbrother isn't going to hurt her but I'm more protective of her now and I don't want anyone to cause her anymore pain of any kind.

"I was asking her why she didn't tell me or her mom about the harassment. How come she told all of you but not us?" Jake asks his tone is curious and accusatory at the same time.

"I didn't tell them Jake not really. I couldn't tell my mom or Glen or you." She says and then pauses for a deep breath and I tighten my hold on her a little while kissing her cheek. "You remember the night you picked me up at the record store?" She asks him.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Asher and I did stay late to work on my story but he also kissed me. That's why I was at the record store, he kissed me and I ran out. Out of the Interpreter, out of the building I ran as far as I could to get as far away from him as I could. I didn't want to believe that it had happened that it was a mistake I was confused and in shock and I couldn't say anything. The words just wouldn't leave my mouth. I didn't tell anyone Jake, the next day I was still nervous and confused, I ran out of drama class and couldn't kiss Liam for our scene because he suddenly turned into Asher. Owen and Dallas both saw me before I went back to co-op but I couldn't tell them, I was hoping it was a mistake and when I talked to Asher he told me it was a mistake, he said he was going through a bad divorce and he lost his head. I wanted to believe him Jake, I had to believe him I couldn't lose the co-op and I wanted to believe him. I wanted it to be a mistake, a misunderstanding and for it to never happen again." Clare wails.

She's starting to cry and she stops for a shuddering breath and to lay her head on my shoulder.

"I didn't find out until the following Monday night." I inform Jake figuring I'll give Clare a break. "She called me to come get her and wanted to sleep here. You called and she said she was staying at Alli's but she wanted to be here because she felt safe at Adam's house. She was nervous and anxious and I knew something was wrong but she wouldn't tell me. Not until we got here, she took off her jacket and I saw that her shirt was ripped and she had a bad bruise that's when she told me that Asher had attacked her."

Jake sort of gasps and looks like he's going to say something but then closes his mouth.

"He didn't rape me, we were in his car and he started touching me. I tried to get out, my shirt got ripped and he grabbed my arm really hard and threatened me. He said if I ever told anyone that he would bring charges against me, say that I came onto him. That no one would believe me if I said he tried to attack me and my life would be ruined by a sexual harassment charge. I was scared Jake and embarrassed and I didn't know what to do and if Mike hadn't seen my ripped shirt I never would have told him." Clare informs her stepbrother.

She starts crying a little harder and lays her head back on my shoulder. Over the next hour or so the four of us manage to tell Jake everything. Every look Asher ever gave her, everything he ever said, every time he ever touched her and then we get to the rape. I don't want to talk about the vicious violence of it with Clare there but Jake says they know the details from the doctor's report anway.

"It was degrading Jake, shameful, demeaning, debasing I couldn't tell anyone. I didn't want to and I was scared. Asher threatened to do it again, make it more violent and he threatened to rape Maya and I was afraid. I know my mom means well, I know she loves me but she doesn't face things. She doesn't deal with them, she wants to ignore them. She did it when Darcy was raped and she did it when her and my dad were having problems." Clare informs Jake.

"Clare she's really worried about you, she was up most of the night crying. At least try and talk to her, try and explain like you did with me. She wants to help but you're pushing her out, distancing her." Jake pleads.

"Nobody can help Jake! Nobody can take it back, reverse time and make it so that it never happened." Clare tells him before hiding her head on my chest again.

Jake sighs heavily and stands up. "At least try Clare, she's your mom. I gotta get to Katie's but your mom will be home until later this afternoon." Jake tells her and then leaves through the glass door.

For several minutes after Jake leaves we all just sit there silently.

"What do you guys want to do?" Adam asks and Clare doesn't even move. "We could call Eli, Bianca and Owen and go see a movie or something." He suggests. "There's a few comedies out and that new Disney flick." He prods after another minute of silence.

Finally Clare unburies her head and looks at him with a slight smile. "There is no way Eli would go to a Disney movie and I highly doubt Owen, Bianca, Drew or Mike would either." She comments.

"We'll do whatever you want Princess." I tell her.

I have no desire to see a cartoon Disney or not but right now I'll do anything to get her to smile. She looks deep in thought for a minute and then takes a deep breath.

"A movie sounds good but can we meet you guys there in a little while?" She requests.

"Sure but what are you going to do?" Drew inquires.

She looks at me biting her lip a little before releasing it to talk. "Can you take me to my house? I need to talk to my mom." She tells me.

"Of course Princess whatever you want." I tell her before kissing her forehead.

**(CLARE)**

Dallas parks the car in front of my house and I take a deep breath before getting out of the car. I'm really not sure I want to face my mom. You know when you're little and you do something bad and you're afraid to tell your parents because it's embarrassing and you're afraid of getting in trouble? For some reason that's how I feel. I know the rape wasn't my fault and neither was the harassment or the assaults but I still feel like I did something wrong and I'm going to get in trouble. Dallas takes my hand interlacing our fingers and squeezing my hand just a little.

"I'll be with you the whole time, you're not alone." He assures me.

"I know." I nod.

We walk to the front door and I unlock it with my key. I can smell food and hear the sounds of eating so I know my mom and Glen must be at the table having lunch. When Dallas and I come around the corner they stop eating of course. They both look up at us with nearly the same look, a mottled look of at least ten different emotions, guilt, sorrow, anger just to name a few. Dallas and I walk to the table and sit down and Mom and Glen let out a simultaneous breath I guess they'd been holding.

"Clare sweetie…" my mom starts but I cut her off.

"Mom please I need you to just listen and not say anything until I'm done." I implore.

"Okay honey." Mom nods.

"I know you love me and you try to do what's best but you're not the easiest person to talk to. You think I wasn't aware of what was going on in the aftermath of Darcy's rape but I was. I know you and Dad tried to shield me from it but you couldn't and none of you really ever dealt with it. None of you really talked about it and Darcy didn't want to talk and I get why she didn't now but you and Dad didn't want to talk either, not to each other, not to Darcy, not to me. You're a great mom and I love you but you try and shield me from the world and you can't! I didn't talk about the harassment from Asher because I couldn't. I was scared and confused and I didn't think anyone would believe me and honestly mom I didn't think you'd talk to me. I thought you'd just ignore it or send me away like you did with Darcy." I confess to her.

"Oh Clare…" my mom starts with tears in her eyes but then closes her mouth seeming to remember that I asked her not to talk until I was done.

"Dallas, Adam and the others found out mostly by accident or I may never have told anyone. I was embarrassed Mom and scared, he threatened me! I was confused and I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to tell anyone in a position of authority because Asher threatened me. Once they found out they did what they could to help and keep me safe but Asher is smart. He always found a way to get to me but keep me from talking. He always made sure no one else saw or heard or knew anything. He used fear to control me and keep me quiet and he still is! I'm scared Mom! I'm always scared now, I feel like he's always there, like he's always about to jump out and attack me again!" I enlighten her.

Now both me and my mom are crying hard. Glen holding her, Dallas holding me and my mom leans over and hugs me but is wary of the bandages on my back.

"Sweetheart I am so sorry this happened to you. I am so sorry you felt like you could never to talk to me about anything. I want you to come to me, to come to us about anything and I promise to be more open and listen and not shut you out baby. You were so young when Darcy was raped and your father and I didn't know what to do. We had our hands full trying to help Darcy, trying to keep her from hurting herself and you sort of fell by the wayside and I am so sorry for that baby. We love you, me your dad, Glen and Jake we all love you and we want you to be safe and healthy and happy. I promise from now on I will be open to talking about anything at all. Or we don't even have to talk but if you need me come to me Clare. I'm your mother that's what I'm here for." Mom insists to me tearfully.

I'm crying too hard to respond but I do hug her back. It's a long time before I can talk again and then I, with Dallas' help, tell them everything. I don't really go into detail but I tell them everything starting with the kiss and ending at the rape. We're at my house for a couple of hours in all and when we're done, after lots of hugs and kisses from my mom and a cautious hug from Glen they tell us they're going to meet Audra, Omar and Nick.

"Should we call the others to meet us at the theatre?" Dallas asks when we get back in the car.

"Yeah I need a distraction. Thanks for coming with me Mike." I say as he starts driving.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you Princess." He smiles, leaning over to kiss me quickly at a red light.

"I love you too." I smile back.

**Update soon**


	31. Not So Secret

**Ch. 31 Not So Secret**

**(CLARE)**

When we get to the theatre everyone is waiting by the ticket booth, Dallas lets me out and goes to park the car.

"What do you wanna see?" Adam asks.

"It's totally up to you we'll watch whatever you want." Eli tells me.

"Anything?" I inquire and they all nod. "Then I want to watch the Disney movie." I tell them.

"I knew she was going to pick that." Dallas says coming up behind us and putting his arm around me.

There's a little bit of grumbling from Eli, Owen and Drew but when I look at them they stop. We get our tickets and go into the theatre; Owen and Drew tell us to get seats while they get snacks so we go into the theatre and find seven seats in the back row. Since the movies been out for a while there isn't very many people, a few families and a small group of pre-teens. Owen and Drew find us a couple minutes later and sit down, they have two big tubs of popcorn and drinks for everyone except Drew and Bianca will share a large drink one and so will me and Dallas. The movie starts with a song and I can already hear the others grumbling a little. Despite this I hear them laughing at the funny parts and even a few of them sniffling a little at the sad parts. When the lights come up after the happy ending they're all smiling.

"That wasn't so bad," Owen comments as we exit the theatre, "but nobody can find out about this. No one can know I went to a Disney movie and enjoyed it. I got a rep to protect." Owen says popping the collar of his Ice Hounds jacket.

"DeGrassi's very own James Dean ladies and gentleman, he may look tough but under the gruff exterior is a lost puppy." I say in snarky tone gesturing to Owen and the others break into laughter.

"Don't worry I'm not telling anyone, you think I want anyone to know I was at a Disney cartoon?" Eli says when we all stop laughing.

"So we're agreed no one says anything, this whole afternoon stays our dirty little secret." Bianca comments.

"We seem to be keeping a lot of those lately." Adam replies and I give him a funny look.

"Hey it's about dinner time you guys want to grab a bite?" Dallas inquires.

Everyone else nods and we get into our cars and drive to Little Miss Steaks, Marisol is working of course and seats us at a booth. We eat and talk about anything but Asher, I do actually eat, more than I have in a few days and except for the searing pain I'm in I can almost pretend like the rape never happened. After dinner we split up to go home, Drew asks if I want him to stay the night again but I tell him it isn't necessary so he decides to go back to the loft but says to call if we need him. Since Drew isn't coming back to the Torres house Adam rides back with me and Dallas. Audra and Omar are still out so they must still be meeting with my parents and Nick. To keep me distracted and in a good mood the three of us play board games. Audra and Omar return around ten and say goodnight, I want to ask them what they talked about tonight, what they're going to do about Asher but I'm also afraid to as I know it's hopeless and there is nothing we can do. Adam goes to bed at eleven and then it's just me and Dallas, I feel exhausted but not tired but since we have to get up for school tomorrow we get ready for bed. I allow Dallas to help me undress and get his dress shirt on to sleep, when we get into bed, he holds me close and tells me he loves me and eventually I fall asleep.

**(ADAM)**

As we approached the Dot on our way to school we saw Owen with Luke and Becky waving to us so Dallas stopped the car and rolled down the window.

"What's up?" Dallas inquires and I see that Owen looks pissed and Luke and Becky anxious.

"Somehow word leaked and the school is swarming with reporters. Officer Turner called in backup for crowd control and told the students not to talk but the reporters are still lingering and waiting for Clare. They don't know Maya's involved because she's already in the school with Katie and Cam. I don't think they know anything about you two either, I haven't heard any reporters say anything about either of you so listen we'll get Clare in my car and take her around the back through the football field and you guys drive in like normal. Everyone's talking about it so we'll get her to the storage room and you can meet us there." Owen instructs.

"Yeah okay. Stay with Owen and Baker Princess I'll see you in a few minutes." Dallas tells Clare before they share a kiss.

Clare nods, Owen takes her arm and helps her out then puts a protective arm around her shoulders and they walk away behind the Dot. When they are no longer in sight Dallas drives to the school and just as Owen said there are dozens of reporters lingering just off of school property. They part so we can drive through and we park and get out. As soon as we get out the reporters start accosting us through the fence.

"Do you know Clare Edwards?"

"Do you know why she's making these allegations against Mr. Shostak?"

"She interned at the Interpreter did she ever say anything about Asher assaulting her?"

They are all shouting similar things, me and Dallas are getting more and more angry. I clench my fists and ignore them but Dallas doesn't seem to have this restraint.

"FUCKING LEAVE US ALONE!" He screams at them and they all are quiet for a second.

The reporters take this as a sign that he does know Clare and they start firing questions off in rapid succession. Dallas looks like he's about to start hitting them all so I grab his jacket and pull him away.

"Lets just get to Clare, she needs us." I insist in a low voice.

Dallas nods and relaxes a bit; we walk into school and all I can think is it's good that Eli gets a ride from his Dad because I just know he'd go off on the reporters. When we walk in the door Bianca is waiting with Eli, Dave, Alli and Jenna. Given the looks on Alli and Jenna's faces I assume they were filled in on everything.

"Where's Clare?" Alli asks.

"Owen, Baker and Becky took her around back we're supposed to meet them in the storage room." Dallas tells them.

We start walking toward the storage room when we're stopped by Mr. Simpson.

"Adam, Dallas I was told Clare came in with you." Mr. Simpson says.

"She did Sir but Owen took her around back to avoid the reporters." I tell him.

"I talked with her mom and I know what happened, if Clare doesn't want to be at school today she can go home. With all reporters outside trying to get the scoop I wouldn't blame her." Mr. Simpson tells us.

"Thanks Mr. Simpson we'll tell her." I reply.

He nods and walks to the door to talk with Officer Turner and we walk off to the storage room.

**(CLARE)**

"How did the press even find out?" I question anxiously as I walk through the football field with Owen and Luke standing very close at my sides and Becky on the other side of her brother.

"No idea for all we know Asher leaked the story. I mean they're reporters and so is he, they probably all know him and they kept saying that you were making allegations which sounds to me like they believe him. The team is spreading the word not to talk to them." Owen tells me.

We go in through my escape door only this time I'm escaping in and not out. The storage room isn't far but as soon as we get inside people are looking at me, whispering and pointing. Some of them are looking at me like I'm crazy or with disdain like I deserved it, others with looks of extreme pity like I'm dying. Honestly I hate all the looks, they all make me feel bad and I want to hide in Dallas' arms but he's not with me just now I grip Owen's jacket and sort of hide behind him so I don't have to see the looks from everyone. Owen's arm comes around me and he holds me tight, it hurts how tightly his arm is around me pressing into the scratches but I don't care it's actually distracting.

"HEY KEEP YOUR FUCKING EYES TO YOURSELVES OR I'LL SHOVE THEM IN YOUR LOCKER AFTER I RIP THEM FROM HEAD!" Owen yells loud enough that I'm pretty sure the whole school heard him.

Owen is not someone you mess with and the whole school knows it, they all turn around quickly. Just before we get to the storage room Jake comes rushing up.

"Oh good you're okay, I mean you didn't get accosted by the reporters did you? They were at the house too and your mom lost it on them. I didn't tell them anything but they know I'm your stepbrother. It's probably a good thing you're staying at Adam's for a while." Jake says rapidly.

"Can we go in the storage room now?" I request as I really don't know how to respond to Jake.

Jake looks confused but he moves out of the way and follows us into the storage room. We open the door and take a few steps in when I hear footsteps running and suddenly Alli and Jenna are in front of me and wrapping me in a tight hug.

"Ow!" I whimper and they let go of me.

"Sorry. Why didn't you tell us? That bastard I can't believe he did that! Adam said you're staying at his house for a while which is good. Can we do anything, anything at all?" Alli asks in one breath for her and Jenna.

"Just be my friends, I'm gonna need you guys." I tell them.

"Of course, we'll always be your friends." Jenna assures me.

They take my hands and we walk around the corner, stepping over all the stuff Dallas knocked over when I first told him. Not only are Dallas and Adam there but so is Eli, Bianca and Dave. Dallas is on the sofa and I go and sit in his lap, Bianca's next to us and she gives me an encouraging smile.

"Simpson said you can go home if you want to, that you don't have to be at school." Adam tells me and I nod.

"You avoid the reporters okay?" Dallas asks Owen and Luke.

"The reporters yeah, the kids in the hall were a little harder to avoid." Luke tells them and I feel Dallas go tense.

"I threatened them they stopped." Owen says.

We all stay in the storage room until the bell rings. Dallas walks with me, Adam and Alli to Miss Oh's class and pecks my lips at the door. As soon as Dallas walks away I hear the whispering begin as the three of us go in and take our seats.

"Just ignore them." Alli tells me.

"I'm trying." I reply.

"Clare why didn't you tell me? If your mentor was acting inappropriately towards you then you should have told me." Miss Oh tells me in a low voice as she kneels at my desk.

"I couldn't." I reply quietly.

"Clare…" she starts but I snap.

"I COULDN'T! I COULDN'T TELL ANYONE!" I scream. I hadn't really meant to scream at Miss Oh but I could hear everyone else whispering and I feel like everyone in the world has asked me why I didn't say anything. Now the room is quiet and everyone is staring at me. "I'm sorry Miss Oh." I apologize before grabbing my backpack and running out of the room.

"CLARE!" Adam calls after me.

Alli does too and I hear them both running after me, I'm not running very fast and they both catch up to me quickly. Adam gently catches my arm and stops me, turning me to face them.

"I didn't mean to yell but everyone was whispering and judging like they have any idea what happened. Everyone asks why I didn't tell them but I couldn't tell them Adam you know I couldn't! He threatened me, I was scared and even so it's not something that's easy to talk about it's not something you just tell people!" I rant into the empty hallway.

"It's okay Clare, it's okay. Miss Oh understands." Alli assures me as she puts her arm around me and I start to cry into her shoulder.

"Maybe you shouldn't be in school. I think you should go back to my house." Adam says.

"How would I get there? Dallas parked out front and anyway you all have to be in class and I don't want to be at your house by myself Asher has been there! I can't be there alone I just can't and you all have to stay and…" I'm sort of insanely rambling now and Adam covers my mouth with his hand to get me stop.

"I'll take care of it." He tells me as he pulls his phone from his pocket. "Hey can you come get Clare and take her to your place?" He asks into the phone and a male voice replies. "Yeah we'll be by the football field." Adam says and hangs up. "Drew will be here shortly." Adam tells me.

"Thanks Adam." I smile a little wiping my tears away.

"Come on lets walk out to the football field, Drew will take you to the loft and he doesn't go into work until one and he's coming here for lunch anyway so he can bring you back then." Adam informs me as we start walking.

"We'll tell Dallas and the others." Alli says.

Thank god for good friends. We walk out to the field and it's only a couple of minutes before Drew is there.

"B told me the press found out, you okay?" Drew asks.

"Not just the press the whole school, rumors are flying and they're all making assumptions. We'll see you at lunch." Adam says.

"I got her; you guys get back to class." Drew instructs.

I hug Alli and Adam before going to Drew and he much like Owen puts a protective arm around my shoulders as we start walking to his car.

"Thanks Drew I just couldn't take being in there anymore. Everyone pointing and whispering and talking like they're an expert on what happened when they really have no bloody clue." I lament.

"Don't worry about it I've been there. Come on I have big TV, a soft sofa and a tub of chocolate ice cream guaranteed to cheer you up." Drew says and I smile.

**(DALLAS)**

I left math class the second the bell rang for lunch. Drew would be bringing Clare back with him, I was glad she had spent the morning away. I knew Drew would keep her safe and probably cheer her up and school was no place for her today. I'd already hit two guys for talking about her, snapped at lots of girls and even gotten mad at a few teachers. I know Owen had nearly bashed one guys head into a locker for saying something but Tristan stopped him. I was waiting with Bianca on the field for Drew and Clare as they were coming in the back of the school to avoid the reporters. When I saw them I ran to her, I know she'd only been gone a few hours but it felt like so long to me. I grabbed her waist and lifted her up to kiss her, her arms came around my neck and she happily kissed me back and seemed to be in better mood than when we got to school this morning. When I set her down she's smiling but I'm not eating with her and Bianca comes up and takes her from me.

"Come on girl you're eating with me." Bianca says linking arms with Clare and they walk off to have lunch with Alli, Jenna, Becky and Tristan and his friends.

"We're eating in the storage room so no one over hears us." I tell Drew.

We walk to the storage room; we don't bother getting lunch because Owen got us some. Everyone else is there when we enter the storage room.

"I talked to Alli after Clare sort of lost it in class, she and Jenna will have Clare over to watch movies whenever we do this." Adam tells us.

"It should be soon." Owen remarks.

"What's your schedule like this week?" I ask Drew.

"I close tonight and tomorrow but Wednesday and the rest of the week I'm off at six." He says.

"Okay Wednesday then, we'll meet at the mall and go from there I know Asher is almost always at the office until nine or ten, Clare told me he was. We need alibis though and we can't just alibi each other. Me, Owen and Luke can say we stayed after practice to run drills, I can get the keys from coach and Cam can alibi us." I say.

"Adam, Dave and I can say we had a late rehearsal since the play opens next week. Jenna will alibi us." Eli remarks.

"So will Tris and probably Tori too." Owen tells them.

"Yeah and Connor." Dave says.

"I'll just say I was at my place with Bianca, I'm sure Fiona and Imogen will alibi us too." Drew shrugs.

"I'll say I was out with Katie." Jake adds.

Once we have all the alibis worked out we start planning, the rest of it is easy. We all wear black, including ski masks and none of talk so he can't identify any voices and we'll make it fast but brutal. Luke will borrow the van from his dad's church because it will fit all of us and then we can all leave our cars at the mall. Clare is to be kept out of it completely if she knows she'll try and stop us.

"I'm going to get Clare and take her home; I mean the Torres home and stay with her." I say when we're done.

"I have play practice after school and you guys have practice." Adam reminds me.

"Clare can come to practice with us." Owen shrugs.

Owen gives me his keys so I can take his SUV still parked at the back of school. I leave the storage room and let them finish their lunch, when I get to the field Clare is sitting on the grass but not eating. At least it looks like she did eat. Her back is to me so she doesn't see me or notice I'm there until I sit down behind her and put my arms around her.

"Did she eat?" I ask Bianca.

"A little bit." Bianca says.

"Come with me Princess." I instruct, standing up and pulling her with me.

We say goodbye to the others, I know the rest of the guys will fill them in on the plan. The drive home is silent aside from me telling her that she's coming to practice with me. We go in through the basement and she asks if we can watch movies so I put one in and sit on the sofa. She lies down on her side and puts her head in my lap, we watch one movie and I put in another and even though she slept through the night she falls asleep just a little way into the second movie. I don't wake her up until it's time to leave for practice. Owen's going with Luke to practice and Adam's driving the car home. Our coaches, manager and arena security heard about the story of course it's been all over the news all day. At least I know security will keep the reporters away. Clare sits on the bench while we practice; she watches the whole thing and smiles a little every time I look over at her. Owen takes us home after practice and we go back into the basement.

"Let's go eat dinner." I say when we get inside. "Whatever Audra made smells great and I'm starved."

"I'm not hungry." She shakes her head.

"Princess you have to eat, a little at least." I insist. "You can sit on my lap." I entice her.

"Well I would assume I could do that anyway," she smiles, "but okay I'll eat a little."

**(CLARE)**

I woke up before the sun after a disturbing dream, the dream made no sense at all but I woke up shaking and panting. Dallas is sleeping soundly and I don't want to disturb him so I slip out of his arms and get out of bed quickly. Tiptoeing to the washroom, I shut the door almost all the way before turning on the light; I don't close the door though since I don't want to wake Dallas. I splash some water on my face and dry it with a towel and then I feel a hand on my shoulder and while the logical part of my brain says it's just Dallas instinctually I gasp and jump a little.

"It's just me Princess," he says in a soothing but sleep graveled voice.

I hang the towel up and turn around to hug him, his arms go around me and my cheek goes up against his bare chest. I love the feel of his skin on mine, it's so warm and soothing, so comforting. Even on a cold morning his bare chest feels so hot that it warms me. I want him to hold me always, to always feel him a part of me wants more, wants to feel him more intimately maybe not sex but like we did before but a bigger part of me is scared. Not like I was scared of sex before, sex is always scary but it's different now, there's a new and deeper fear that I can't quite put my finger on. Dallas picks me up and carries me to the bed again lying me down on my side and wrapping his arms around me.

"Another bad dream or did you just wake up at the crack of dawn?" He asks.

"Bad dream." I say into his chest.

"He's not going to hurt you again Princess. We're going to take care of it, take care of him." Dallas says the last bit with a clenched jaw.

"What do you mean Mike? You guys aren't going to do anything stupid are you? I don't want you or any of the others getting into trouble because of me." I tell him.

"Don't worry about it Princess." He says.

"Mike…" I start to argue but he cuts me off with a kiss.

My hands travel up his chest to the back of his neck and my fingers interlink, pulling me up his body a little and deepening the kiss. I could have kissed him for hours, made out with him until it was time to leave for school but suddenly my phone rings and we break apart.

"It's not even five who the hell is calling you at this hour?" He exclaims.

"I don't know but it might be an emergency I have to answer it." I tell him as the only reason I can think for someone to call this early would be bad news. Dallas sort of huffs but he gets out of bed and grabs my phone from my purse. I don't recognize the number but I still answer. "Hello?"

"Miss Edwards this is Susan Coleman from channel four I just had a few…"

I don't wait for the rest and just pull the phone away from my ear and cover the mouth piece.

"It's a reporter." I tell Dallas.

He turns livid and motions for the phone and I give it to him.

"DON'T YOU EVER CALL THIS NUMBER AGAIN! EVERYTHING SHE'S BEEN THROUGH AND YOU'RE CALLING TO INTERROGATE HER BEFORE FIVE IN THE FUCKING MORNING!" Dallas yells into the phone and then hangs it up and throws it across the room.

Before I can do anything we hear a rush of footsteps coming down the stairs and I know he woke up the whole house.

"Are you two okay?" Audra asks.

"What happened?" Adam inquires with a yawn.

"She's getting fucking reporters calling at this hour!" Dallas snaps.

"You're fucking kidding me!" Adam exclaims.

"Language Adam." Audra admonishes and then looks at me. "Are you alright Clare?"

"I just want them to leave me alone; I just want this whole thing to be done with. I want it to have never happened." I complain.

There's a few minutes of silence as there's really nothing they can do about it.

"Well since we're all up why don't we get dressed and go have breakfast." Omar finally suggests.

They go upstairs and Dallas and I get up and get ready for school. We take two cars so Dallas can drive us to school after. I get another call from a reporter on the way to the diner and another at the diner. When I get yet another one as we arrive at school, pulling around the back since there's reporters out front again, Dallas grabs my phone and throws it against a tree with all the force he has! The phone shatters into dozens of pieces and scatters on the ground. Since we all woke up so early we get into school early and just like yesterday we take refuge in the storage room before school starts. As the others get to school they join us and Dallas explains why no one can call my phone anymore. When the bell rings Dallas and Dave walk with Me, Adam and Alli to class. Dallas gives me a soft kiss at the door and when I go in I see Miss Oh is already at her desk.

"Miss Oh I'm sorry about yesterday, I…"

She puts her hand on my arm to get me to stop. "That's alright Clare yesterday was emotional and I know you're under a lot of stress and scrutiny right now. Just know that I'm here to talk if you need it." She tells me.

"Thanks Miss Oh." I smile.

"You should know Mr. Simpson warned everyone not to talk to the reporters and to leave you alone but we can't keep rumors from spreading. If you want to go home again it's okay." Miss Oh tells me.

I nod and sit down at my desk. The rest of the morning goes okay there are rampant rumors, like Asher and I have been having an affair for two years or I'm carrying his baby and other ridiculous stuff. There is less whispering and pointing today at least in my presence but I'm sure that has to do with the fact that the team threatened to pound the snot out of any guy they caught talking about it or spreading rumors and Bianca and Alli threatened to do the same to the girls. At lunch we all eat on the football field again, including Jake, Katie, Maya, Cam, Tori, Zig and Tristan and even Drew joins us.

"Here," Drew says pulling out a brand new phone from his pocket; it even has the same case that Dallas bought me. "B told me what happened to your phone and the reporters calling, this one is registered to me so they can't trace it you and Adam and Dallas helped me put in everyone's numbers. Your family's in there and all of us and I sent them all a text with the new number so they have it." Drew informs me.

"Thanks Drew." I smile and kiss his cheek.

I don't eat much but I do enjoy the relative peace I'm currently experiencing being surrounded by my friends. When sitting on the hard ground becomes uncomfortable and too painful with the abrasions on my backside I lay on my stomach with my head in Dallas' lap.

"Hey we got reporters coming." Luke says suddenly.

"How the hell did they get on school grounds?" Dave asks. "I'm calling my dad." He says pulling out his phone.

"Go inside." Dallas orders as he helps me up.

"What are you going to do?" I inquire.

"It doesn't matter just get inside with Alli and the others." He commands.

He looks ready to kill and he's not the only one.

"Mike, guys don't! Please. Just come inside with us okay?" I plead but none of them seem to hear me.

Dave's on the phone telling his dad about the reporters, Alli and Jenna are pulling at me to come inside with them. Katie is begging Jake not to do anything stupid, Maya is doing the same with Cam, Tori with Zig, Becky with her brother and Adam, Tris is telling his brother not to get arrested. Bianca on the other hand looks as ready to kill the reporters as Drew.

"Mike please lets just all go inside! I don't want any of you hurt or arrested. Mike please." I beg again.

**Update soon**


	32. Who Are You?

**Ch. 32 Who Are You?**

**(CLARE)**

"Mike please, come inside with me. Don't leave me I need you." I pleaded with Dallas afraid of him getting in a confrontation with the reporters and making things worse or worse yet getting arrested for assault. "Mike come inside, please I need you with me." I tried one last time pulling at his Ice Hounds jacket to get him to stop and look at me.

Finally he did, he was still tense, his fists clenched and an angry look on his face but finally something got through to him and he looked at me. "I won't leave you," he nodded kissing my forehead.

He turned putting his hand at on the only part of my back that was not scratched but I turned around, I did not want anyone else to get hurt or arrested either.

"OWEN, ELI, DREW, BIANCA!" I yelled in a pleading voice.

"Guys let's go!" Dallas barked.

"My dad and the other officers are coming come on." Dave said.

The others stopped advancing, they still looked pissed but they turned around and walked back to the school with us.

"Fucking reporters!" Eli snarled punching a locker when we were in the school.

"Eli don't hurt your hand again." I told him.

"My dad and the other officers will take care of the reporters." Dave told him.

"Lunch is almost over I should get back to work." Drew said kissing Bianca quickly.

"You gonna be able to outrun the reporters?" Dallas asked him.

"You kidding I was QB1." Drew assured him giving me a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll call when I'm off work to see how you are." Drew told me and I smiled at him.

He waved as he disappeared around the corner; we started walking toward Dallas, Luke and Owen's lockers. When the bell rang Dallas walked with me and Dave to science class and kissed my cheek at the door. I sat down at my desk slowly, the more the scratches were healing the more they hurt.

"Hey Clare did you really have sex with that old guy?" A girl in my class named Tiffany suddenly asked.

"EXCUSE ME?!" I screamed.

"Hey sit down and shut up!" Dave ordered just as Wes and Connor came in.

"But I just want to know…" Tiffany started.

"It's none of your business." Dave snapped at her.

"It's all over the news though and they all say she's making it up." Tiffany countered.

"They're wrong! HE RAPED ME!" I screamed getting up from the desk and storming from the room just as Mr. Bettankamp came in.

I heard three pairs of footsteps following me and knew it was Dave, Connor and Wesley.

"Clare you can't just wander the halls by yourself." Dave said catching my arm to get me to stop.

"I was just going to wait in the storage room for next period; I just couldn't be in there! Even the other students don't believe me!" I seethed, feeling tears at the corner of my eyes.

"I do and so do Dallas and the others." Dave assured me.

"So do we." Connor said speaking for him and Wesley.

I gave my friends a grateful smile. "Thanks but I still don't want to be in the classroom with Tiffany and the others judging me."

"You can go to the storage room if you want but you don't want to be alone do you? Anyway you left your backpack in the classroom." Dave points out.

"We'll get our backpacks and I'll talk to my uncle, we'll meet you in the storage room." Wesley said.

Dave and I walked to the storage room and I lay on my side on the sofa. A few minutes later Connor and Wes came in with our backpacks and Wes said Mr. Bettankamp just said to read today's chapter and discuss the questions at the end so we did. When the bell rings we leave the storage room, halfway to English class Dallas and Owen find us.

"We heard what happened in class are you okay?" Dallas asks putting his arms around me.

"Okay is not a word I would use but Dave, Wes and Connor stayed with me so I was fine." I tell them.

"Bianca's taking care of that Tiffany girl." Owen informs me.

I would argue but I just don't feel like it and I kind of want Tiffany to get scared so she'll keep her damn opinions to herself next time. Both Dallas and Owen walk me to English class and Miss Dawes gives me a sympathetic smile as I enter.

"It's good to see you back Clare; if you need to talk I'm here. I realize how…" she paused searching for the right word, "fragile and precarious you are right now so if you need to leave or anything you just go right ahead." She tells me.

"Thanks Miss Dawes." I smile a little.

The bell rings and she starts class, no one bothers me in English and while I do pay attention I don't participate like I normally would but Miss Dawes seems to understand. After class Dallas, Owen and Luke are waiting for me and I'm told I'm going to practice with them again. I watch them practice and try and do my homework, I have trouble concentrating though, it's not the practice that makes it hard to concentrate it's my brain. One of the side effects, no that seems like the wrong word, after effects yes that's better, one of the after effects of the rape is that my thoughts have become fragmented almost. Anytime I try to keep one single thought in my mind it betrays me and my thoughts go back to the rape. So as I sit looking at my math book and reading the word problem that starts out: _A crate is to be made of a piece of wood five feet by…_

There's more to the problem but it sort of blurs out as my brain replaces what it says. _"I wonder what the crates were made of that I was thrown into?_ _The scratches I got from the crates are healing pretty well I wish the road rash would heal it hurts like hell!"_

I look down at my note book to see that I've written crates, hurt, scratch and rape. Oh yeah Mr. Armstrong will love that answer. Maybe I should do my homework at home with Dallas and Adam, we usually have the TV on it helps keep me from concentrating too much. I close my math book and put it, my notebook and my pencil back in my backpack. I watch as the Ice Hounds slap their sticks on the ice in a pattern and then break off into groups of three and shoot the puck to each other but soon I drift off to sleep using my backpack as a pillow.

…"_You shouldn't have talked Clare! You were supposed to keep your mouth shut! No one believed you though just as I said. To the media you are the little girl who cried wolf and I am the wolf! I warned you if you talked the next time would be worse! I brought some things to play with this time! Asher taunts in my ear, as he fastens his belt around my mouth again. I try to scream but it gets lost in the leather. The taste of my salty tears mixes with harsh taste of the polished leather and I gag…_

I wake up to an ear shattering scream and realize it's coming from me. I sit up rapidly and stop screaming but I'm crying and breathing hard. Within seconds Dallas, Owen, Luke and Cam are at my sides.

"Princess are you okay?" Dallas asks kneeling down in front of me.

"I'm okay Mike it was just a nightmare. I'm sorry I didn't mean to ruin your practice guys." I apologize as Mike sits next to me and puts his arm around me.

"You didn't ruin anything just scared us all half to death. That's pretty hard to do to tough hockey players." Owen smiles as he wipes some tears from my eyes and I smile at him.

"I'm okay go back to practice I won't fall asleep again." I assure them.

"Maybe I should take you home." Dallas says.

"Mike your captain you have to stay for practice. I'm telling you I'm fine, it was a nightmare, I won't fall asleep again. Go on all of you, back to practice." I command.

Owen scowls at me but kisses my forehead and goes out to the ice, Cam gives me a sympathetic smile and follows, Luke puts his hand on my shoulder briefly before going back to the ice. Dallas tilts my chin up and touches his lips to mine very softly.

"You sure you're okay?" He questions.

"I'm alright; go on practice the coach is looking at you." I insist.

"Okay I'm going, don't fall asleep again." He says and then leaves the bench to go back to the ice.

**(ADAM)**

Dallas was almost to the school when my phone rang, it was Dave.

"Hey Dave."

"Some of the reporters are sneaking around back. Pull around back and we'll meet you there to get Clare into the school." Dave says.

"Okay see you shortly." I say and hang up then I look at Dallas. "Dave said to pull around back." I tell him.

He nods and does just that, we park behind the football field and go through the hole in the gate the delinquent kids cut into it ages ago. When we get through the trees we see not only Dave, Owen and Luke but Officer Turner as well.

"A police escort and an Ice Hounds escort I must really be special." Clare says sort of half joking.

"Of course you are Princess." Dallas affirms and she smiles.

We walk to the school and Officer Turner explains some of the reporters are sneaking around the perimeter of the school despite repeated warnings from the cops to stay off school grounds so now anyone that is not a student or a parent will be arrested for trespassing.

"Wait what about Drew?" Clare speaks up in a worried tone.

"Drew's allowed on school grounds, the other officers have his picture he has special permission." Officer Turner assures her and she relaxes.

When we get to our lockers Eli is there as well as Jenna, Alli and Bianca. After we get out books the whole group walks Clare, Alli and me to Miss Oh's class. As soon as we're in Clare's cell rings and she answers it but I only hear her side of conversation.

"Hello…yes…no…yes a lot…oh uh sure…yes I think so…okay." Then she hangs up.

"What was that?" I inquire.

"The clinic called my mom, they want me to come in so they can look at my back and change the bandages, make sure the abrasions aren't infected and are healing well and look at my other injuries. They want me to come in first thing this morning; they've been trying to get a hold of me but didn't have the new number. Do you think Drew will go with me since the rest of you have school?" She asks me.

"I know Drew will go with you." I tell her I pull out my phone and send him a text.

**Adam: Clare needs to go to the doctor for a follow up. They want her to come in right now can you take her?**

**Drew: Meet you by the field in ten.**

"He'll meet us in back of the school in a few minutes." I tell Clare and she smiles.

The three of us get up and walk to Miss Oh's desk, she looks up at us.

"I have to go into the doctor so they can change my bandages. They want me to come right now." Clare tells Miss Oh.

"Bandages?" Miss Oh queries.

"On my back, it's all…scratched up." She informs Miss Oh.

"Oh," Miss Oh says sadly, "of course Clare do you have a ride?" She asks and Clare nods. "Okay Adam take Clare and have Officer Turner escort you both out. I expect you to return to class Adam." Miss Oh tells me.

"Yes Ma'am." I nod.

I put my arm around Clare's shoulders and we walk to the front door, I explain it to Officer Turner. Then the three of us walk out the back and wait at the edge of the football field for Drew.

"I should call Mike so he doesn't worry." Clare says.

"He's in class and there's Drew. I'll tell Dallas where you are when he comes to get you after class." I tell her.

Drew takes Clare and I go back in with Officer Turner, I quietly take my seat in class and when it's over Dallas, Owen and Eli are at the door to get Clare.

"Where is she?" Dallas asks.

"The clinic wanted her to come in so they could change her bandages and stuff." Alli tells them.

I see them all about to lose it as they think that she went alone since we're all still at school.

"Drew took her." I say quickly and they all calm down. "He'll call me or you when they get back so we can go get her." I assure them.

Dallas nods and we split up to get to our classes, it isn't until morning break that Drew calls me to say they're back. We're all together anyway so we all walk back to meet them. Dallas goes straight for Clare and she goes straight to his arms.

"Are you okay? What did the doctor say?" Dallas asks her.

"I'm okay it was just a follow up. They said everything was healing well." She tells him.

"Her whole backside looks like ground hamburger, they covered it in some cream to help it heal and hopefully keep it from bothering her so much. She'll have to go back on Friday to get the bandages changed again but all her tests came back clean." Drew informs us.

"Thanks for taking her Drew." Dallas says.

"No problem, I gotta get to work though, later." Drew waves.

Then he kisses Bianca's lips, Clare's cheek and hugs me. When he's gone we all go back inside since morning break is almost over and Alli and Jenna are telling Clare that she should come over for a girls night and Alli's mom said it was fine. It's really to keep Clare safe and out of the fact that we're going to beat the hell out of Asher. Clare says it sounds like fun but looks at Dallas as if to get his permission. He tells her to go and we'll pick her up after.

**(DALLAS)**

Drew was the last to join us in the church van, the rest of us have changed into black clothing and we parked way back in the parking lot where there were no cameras. Drew, already in black pants and shoes takes off his green uniform shirt and puts on a black hoodie, then buckles his seat belt and Luke starts driving for the Interpreter office. We park down the block a little ways on a side street and walk to the parking lot for the Interpreter. I know what Asher's car looks like and we hide behind a corner with a good view of Asher's car. Then we wait, sitting on the cement we talk on occasion but fall silent as soon as we hear someone. We're there for over two hours and several people get in their cars and leave but no sign of Asher. Then he appears, stalking down the parking lot with a repugnant smile. We put our ski masks on and Adam reminds us to make it quick and for no one to say anything. We look around and seeing no one else around the seven of us saunter from our hiding spot as soon as his back is to us.

I take the first hit kicking the back of his knee so he falls to the ground. The Torres brothers both kick him in the ribs on either side at exactly the same time. Owen gets down so he can punch his face before kicking his arm while Luke and Jake begin kicking his legs. Adam kicks him in the stomach twice, hard and I pick him up by the hair before dropping his face back to the cement and give him one last kick in the side. Then we run out of the parking lot, as soon as we we're out we walk calmly to the van and drive back to the mall. Where we split up into individual cars and drive home, well Adam and I have to swing by Alli's house to pick up Clare first.

"Have a good time Princess?" I ask after we ring the bell and she answers the door.

"Yes, it was nice to feel normal again for a while and not be hounded by reporters." She smiles.

"Good let's get you home." I say and then look at Alli's parents. "Thanks for looking out for her."

"Of course it was our pleasure, Clare is always welcome." Mr. Bhandari says.

Mrs. Bhandari takes Clare's hands and kisses her cheek. "You let us know if you need anything." Mrs. Bhandari tells her.

"I will." She smiles.

I put my arm around Clare and we wave to the Bhandari's and Jenna before walking back to the car. I drive us home as Clare tells us about her night, when we get home we go in through the basement since the living room lights are out.

"I should probably get ready for bed." Adam says when we're inside.

"Goodnight Adam." Clare says and then squeezes her eyebrows together and grabs Adam's sleeve to stop him. "Why are you both wearing black?" She asks.

"Night." Adam says quickly kissing her cheek and running upstairs.

She turns and looks at me with her hand on her hip. "Mike."

"Yeah I should probably get ready for bed too." I say scratching the back of my head uncomfortably.

She doesn't look happy but I quickly duck into the washroom and start getting ready for bed. As I'm brushing my teeth I hear the TV come on but the volume is low so I can't tell what she's watching. I finish brushing my teeth and start getting undressed; I get as far as my socks and shoes when I hear her call me.

"Mike get out here!" She demands but her voice isn't scared it's angry.

I leave the washroom to see Clare is watching the news and it's a story about Asher, or rather the beating we gave him a short time ago.

"_Mr. Shostak's injuries are unknown at this point but we do know he was rushed by ambulance from the parking garage of the Interpreter office. Where he is reported to have been found unconscious and beaten by fellow Interpreter employees." _The reporter says.

Clare turns off the TV, stands on the sofa and turns around looking at me with her hands on her hips and her face scrunched up a little.

"Tell me that you and Adam had nothing to do with that?" She pleads but in an irate tone.

"Okay I won't tell you," I shrug.

"Mike this isn't funny, was that you? Did you and Adam, and I'm betting Eli, Owen and possibly Jake beat up Asher tonight?" She inquires, her voice is less angry now, more worried.

"Don't forget Baker and Drew." I tell her.

"Mike!" She exclaims in a sort of astonished voice.

"What? That fucking asshole rapist deserved it." I argue.

"I know that, I'm not saying he didn't deserve to get beaten for what he did but what happens when he tells the cops it was you guys? If you all get arrested…" She's starting to get agitated and tears trickle down her cheeks.

I pick her up over my shoulder which stops hr form talking and set her on my lap on the bed.

"He doesn't know it was us, we all wore black and ski masks and no one said anything." I assure her.

"But he's seen you, Adam, Drew and Owen you don't think he'll figure it out or the police will suspect you? Mike y…" she's starting to rant again and I cut her off with a soft kiss.

"Probably but we all have alibis we thought this out Princess don't worry. There's no way they can prove it was us, no one is getting arrested." I tell her.

"You promise?" She asks clinging to my shirt a little. "I just got you back I can't lose you again." She insists to me and I smile.

"You won't Princess; you won't lose me ever again. You won't lose me ever, don't forget you don't really lose me I don't acknowledge that we broke up." I affirm and then bring my lips to hers.

Before I can even request entry she parts her lips and my tongue goes in, her hands come to the back of my neck and she deepens the kiss. It's several minutes before she pulls away from the kiss.

"I love you Mike." She smiles.

"I love you Princess, come let's get ready for bed quickly so I can hold you all night long." I tell her and she smiles widely.

**(OWEN)**

I drive Tris and me to school and there are still swarms of reporters, I drive through them although I'd rather drive over them. I pull up to the steps and let Tris out with strict instructions to get straight inside, he nods and gets out and I park in the lot. The reporters are of course swarming the chain link fence and as soon as I'm out my car start shooting off questions at me. They do this every day and every day I yell at them to back the fuck off!

"Do you know the alleged victim?"

"Are you aware that Asher Shostak is currently in the hospital?"

"Do you think it was retaliation for the alleged rape by Clare's friends?"

I try really hard to ignore them but now I lose it. "JUST FUCKING LEAVE US ALONE YOU FUCKING LEECHES!" I holler at them.

Finally they all fall silent and back away going to a different part of the fence and I start walking into school.

"Do you know her?"

The voice stops me, it isn't demanding and harsh like the reporters, it's soft and sort of sad yet hopeful. I turn around to see a girl maybe a couple years older than Clare; the girl has short straight auburn hair and grey blue eyes that look very sad. She's wearing a TU sweatshirt and jeans and looking at me sort of pleadingly.

"Why?" I question a little suspiciously, she doesn't look like a reporter but it could be a trick and I'm not about to lead Clare into a trap.

"I'm not a reporter, I am a journalism student at TU but I'm not here for a story. I was Asher's intern two years ago and he assaulted me too. I just want to talk to her. I promise I have no paper or pen or recording devices, you can even search me if you want to." She tells me.

"You interned with that bastard pedophile and he assaulted you too?" I question.

She nods slowly. "He didn't rape me or anything it never went near that far but he did assault me."

"Okay go around to the back of the school, we'll meet you under the bleachers for the football field. I'll tell her you want to talk but I won't force her too that's up to Clare and if this is some kind of trick I will snap your neck understood?" I question and she nods.

She starts walking away to the other end of the parking lot, the long way round to the back of the school. I go through the doors and out to the back knowing that Dallas will pull around back to get Clare inside. I walk to the tree line to wait for them so I can tell Clare as soon as she gets here. I just hope this chick is for real because if she's lying, if this is a trick to get Clare to talk I will break that girls neck!

**Update Soon**


	33. A Legal Matter

**Ch. 33 Legal Matter**

**(DALLAS)**

I had my arm around Clare's shoulders as we walked with Adam through the chain link fence bordering the school's property. Waiting for us on the other side was Owen which wasn't surprising but he looked different today, sort of deep in thought.

"Hey there's a girl waiting to talk to you if you want. She says she's a journalism student at TU and she was Asher's intern two years ago." Owen tells us. "She says Asher assaulted her too."

"Is she for real? How do we know she's not a reporter trying to get Clare to talk?" Adam inquires.

I know Owen would never intentionally put Clare in danger but Adam has a good point.

"She looks sincere to me, she was nervous and sad and she said I could search her for recording devices. She said she just wants to talk but I told her it was up to you." Owen says.

"I'll talk to her," Clare nods but tightens her grip on me, "but you three have to stay with me."

"Of course we are." I assure her.

"I told her if it was some kind of trick I would snap her neck." Owen tells us.

We follow Owen to the bleachers and I see a girl standing under them, she looks up as we start approaching. She does look fairly nervous and sad; when she sees Clare she gives her a sort of sad sympathetic smile.

"I'm Emily Sorenson I interned for Asher two years ago." Emily tells us.

"He assaulted you too?" Adam asks.

"He didn't rape me or anything close to it. It started about a week into my internship, he would be watching me from his desk but I didn't really think it was odd you know? He was my mentor I just thought he was doing what he was supposed to. Then his hand began lingering on my shoulder or brushing past my neck but progression was so slow I hardly noticed." Emily told us.

"That's how it was with me too." Clare nods.

"Then one night we were in the editing bay, he wanted me to help him edit a story. We stayed late and he kissed me, I was so shocked I didn't know what to do. I didn't kiss him back but I just sort of froze, I couldn't move. He pulled away like nothing had happened and then told me not to say anything if I cared about my career. I left and went home, I didn't know what to do, I didn't think anyone would believe me. I didn't really believe it myself to be honest. I went in the next day like normal and he wasn't there. The next time I saw him he cornered me in the copy room, he kissed me again and told me if I said anything he would tell everyone I came onto him, he'd ruin my career before it ever began. He said no one would believe me and I believed him, then he said if I went along with it and finished out my internship that he'd write me a glowing recommendation and I could go on to the school and the job of my dreams. I was scared, confused, I was sure he would ruin me and I didn't have friends like yours. No one else knew and I couldn't tell them. So I kept my mouth shut and finished out my internship and just did my best to avoid him. The worst it ever got was kissing and fondling and when I was done he gave me my recommendation letters and I never heard from him again." Emily confesses to us.

"We knew Clare couldn't be his first." Adam says.

"I wish I'd had the guts to say something but I didn't. He's probably been doing it for a while. I want to help, Asher is in the hospital and I think I can get in and get the names of his other interns. I can call them and ask them to come forward with me but even if they don't I'll go to the cops and tell them my story." Emily tells us.

"If they know he assaulted past interns, even if you're the only one to come forward it'll lend credence to Clare's account hopefully enough for them to arrest Asher." Adam points out.

"Right, it's too late for the rest of us to file charges I think but if he gets outed and exposed for the creep he is it'll be worth it. Here's my number, I'll contact you again after I've talked with his other interns." Emily says holding out a piece of paper and Owen takes it.

"What if you can't get a hold of the list of interns?" Adam asks.

"I'm confident that I can but if I can't then I'll still go to the cops." Emily tells us.

"Good, you can call me and I'll get in touch with Clare." Owen tells her writing down his number and handing it to Emily.

She takes it and looks at Clare. "I'm sorry, if I had spoken up when it happened to me this probably never would have happened to you." Emily says and then she walks away.

Clare turns into me, gripping my Ice Hounds jacket and crying on my shirt. I tighten my arm around her; Adam puts his hand on her arm.

"Princess what's wrong? This is good." I tell her.

She looks up from my chest, wiping her tears. "That's almost exactly what he did with me. Watching me from his desk, his hand lingering on my shoulder, the kiss in the editing bay and I didn't say anything, I would have kept my mouth shut just like she did. You only found out because you saw my ripped shirt that night. What if I hadn't called you that night? What if you guys had never found out? Was I the only to fight back, to tell him no? Is that why he became so…focused on me? Is that why he kept stalking me after my internship?" She bemoans.

"Yeah I'm sure that's why he was so obsessed with you. If everyone else just went along with it and didn't say anything then he got what he wanted. You always fought back, told him no and you had us to fight with you." I tell her.

"He had complete control over the others but not with you. Emily's story just proves that he's done this before; he honed his skill and methods of control. He waited until he had their trust and respect and then slowly built up to crossing the line so when he did you were all too scared to say anything. He's smart Clare, you know that but even if Emily can't get the list or no other interns come forward then she'll still go to the cops and it shows that you aren't the only one." Adam tells her.

She wipes the rest of her tears just as the bell rings and we start walking in the school.

**(CLARE)**

I felt a little like a ghost all through school, I never really paid attention all I could think about was what Emily had told me this morning. It just ran over and over in my head sort of replaying in a loop as everything Asher had ever done with me up to the rape played like a silent picture show in my mind. My teachers never got mad at me for spacing out and I only knew class was over because Dallas would come get me and walk me to my next class. He noticed my spaced out state and so did the others but they all knew about Emily and they all understood. Now I was at Ice Hounds practice of course, it had become the routine and I had a feeling it would be for a while. I felt better being with Dallas always and certainly safer with Owen, Luke, a hockey team and security guards there. Not that Asher could do anything to me being in the hospital but like I said Asher was no longer a man in my mind he was a monster. I should have been doing homework but my mind wouldn't focus so I just watched the practice.

Practice was not as interesting as the games, there wasn't as much action and it was a lot of them skating back and forth over the ice and making the same shots into the goals. There was also a lot of Dallas barking orders seeing as he was team captain. There was also a lot of Owen barking orders which I thought was funny considering on this team anyway he ranked relatively low. Something I guess he wasn't used to since on the football team he ran the defensive side and on the hockey team last year, before we had gotten the Ice Hounds, he was the MVP. Even though I doubt that meant anything to most of the guys on the team they still listened to Owen when he talked, I think it was just Owen's presence that made you listen.

Practice finally ends and Dallas skates over to me, picks me up and skates across the ice toward the locker room with me in his arms. This was my favorite part; he did it before every practice to get me to the bench and after every practice to take me to the locker room to wait for him to shower and change. Holding me as we fly across the ice, skating so fast wind blows past me, being off the ground in his arms and I really do feel like I'm flying. He always holds me just right and very carefully so he doesn't hit the scabbing on my back. I've never told him how much I enjoy it, how it always clears my head and makes me feel, for just a minute that nothing in the world is wrong as long as I'm flying. I've never told him but I think he knows because he always has the same smile when he sets me down and he always gives me the same light and happy kiss.

"Are you driving tomorrow?" I ask Owen as we all walk to the parking lot after they've all showered and changed.

"If you want me to." He replies and I nod. "Ok then I'm driving." He smiles.

"Is everyone coming again? I know Becky isn't she's working on the play with Eli." Luke says.

"So is Adam and Tristan. It's just me and Maya this time." I tell him.

"No it isn't I got a ticket for Jenna and gave it to her before we came to practice." Luke tells me.

"Yeah and it's Drew's night off so he and Bianca are coming. You think we would let you and Maya be alone at the game even with that fucker in the hospital and an arena full of people?" Dallas asks.

"No." I smile.

We wave to Owen and Luke, get in the car and Dallas drives to the Torres house. When we get inside we can smell dinner and the Torres family, minus Drew of course, is eating at the table.

"How was practice?" Adam asks.

"Good." Dallas says getting a plate and piling it with food.

"Adam told us about Emily, I'd like to put Nick in touch with her." Omar says.

"Owen has her number; I'll call him after dinner." Dallas tells him.

"Aren't you eating Clare?" Audra asks after Dallas sits down and I realize I haven't moved from the entry.

"Actually I'm not hungry." I shake my head but I do walk forward.

"You barely ate anything at lunch." Dallas says in a scolding tone.

"You have to eat something." Adam says in almost the same tone.

"Sit down Clare I'll fix you a plate." Audra insists in a firm voice.

I sit in my seat between Dallas and Adam and Audra beings me a plate with too much food on it. I nibble at slowly while Dallas scarfs down his food and then finishes mine after I say I'm full. Adam and Dallas do the dishes and despite my offers to help they tell me to sit. The three of us go downstairs to do homework when they're done. I lay on the sofa on my stomach since I've been sitting on the scabs all day, my knees bent and my book propped up against Dallas' leg. The chapter in my science book could not have been written in more boring way and of course my mind won't focus so when the words on the page start to morph and blur together I decide I've had enough of homework. With all the classes I've missed, haven't paid attention to and all the homework I haven't done I'm going to have to talk to my teachers about making it up but for now I can only concentrate on the rape and the pending case and hopefully getting Asher to admit what he did and at least pay in some small way.

"I'm gonna take a bath." I announce setting down my book and getting up from the sofa.

"Let me help." Dallas says getting up with me.

"I think I'll finish my homework upstairs." Adam tells us getting up with his book.

Adam hugs me lightly and says goodnight, going upstairs and I'm about to go into the washroom when Dallas' phone rings.

"Hey…that's great oh yeah Omar wants Nick to talk to Emily can you give her his number?" Dallas says into the phone and I realize he's talking to Owen. He looks at me with a smile so I know it must be good news and then he hangs up. "Emily got the names of that fucker's interns from the last five years. She already talked with two of them and they were also assaulted and agreed to go with her to the police." Dallas tells me.

There's a sudden relief that washes over me, I release a breath I didn't know I was holding. When I exhale I feel like I've been holding that breath since the rape. I doubt any of the other girls were raped but even so this proves that Asher didn't just assault me there were others and now everyone has to believe me. I feel like crying and smiling all at once but I can't seem to do anything. Dallas puts his phone back in his pocket and comes to me, putting his arms around me and placing his lips on mine. My hands go to his shoulders and even though it's a gentle kiss it feels different when I kiss him back, I'm not as scared.

"They have to believe me now, the cops they have to believe me now right?" I state more than ask when he takes his lips away.

"They will, everyone will, Asher's going to be exposed for the sick pedophile he is." Dallas smiles.

"I really should take a bath. Will you help me get undressed? I think I break the scabbing when I do it." I request.

"Of course Princess." Dallas smiles.

We go into the washroom and he helps me undress and restrains himself from letting his hands wander or commenting about the injuries. He does lightly kiss the bruises on my shoulders though. His lips against my skin, so soft, gentle and loving make me quiver. He starts the bath for me and then turns on the shower.

"Mike I can't shower, the bandages…" I start to protest but he cuts me off with a gentle kiss, holding my chin between his thumb and finger.

"I know. Let me help, I know this is hard for you, let me help." He says.

Before I can say anything he takes off his shirt and drops it to the floor with my clothes. I love the sight of him with his shirt off; his sculpted muscles make such a lovely landscape on his torso. He brushes his fingers over my cheek gingerly and it evokes memories of our first and only sexual experience together. All memories of the rape, the assault and Asher leave my mind and body for a few seconds. My sense memory brining back only the feel of Dallas, he's no longer touching me but I feel his hand grazing my skin like he did that night and I bite my lip at the memory playing it's self over in my head. When I come back to the moment I realize that Dallas has completely disrobed and all I can do is stare. This is the first time I've seen him naked or any guy naked for that matter. It's not at all like pictures in health class or anything else.

"It's just you and me Princess." He says to me, pulling back the shower curtain and I realize the washroom has filled with steam.

"I know." I nod.

He steps into the tub under the water stream so it's all hitting him then holds his hand out to me. I take his hand and get in facing him; since he's the one in the water my bandages remain dry. He doesn't say anything but reaches back grabbing a wash cloth and the body wash dispensing some and handing the washcloth to me. I bite my lip and look away a little but he gently moves my head until our eyes meet again.

"Keep your eyes on me, know that I'm the only one here and let me help. I'm not going to do anything at all unless you want me to. I won't kiss you or touch you unless you say it's okay. I'm here for you, I didn't get in here to make love to you and believe me I want to but not until you're ready, you hear me?" He asks.

I smile and nod and start washing my body looking at him as much as I can. He watches me the whole time but it doesn't feel like Asher watching me at all. I feel loved, protected and cared for. At no time does Asher even enter my mind even; it's just me and Dallas. I finish and he takes the washcloth and rinses it so I can get the soap off. I look back at him he's actually showering too, washing his body and then putting his hair back in the water to wash it and I watch him. The sight is very arousing I must admit and I bite my lip again. Still I spend most of the time with my eyes locked on his; it's just more comfortable that way. I know that someday soon though, preferably when I can move without pain I want to intimately explore every inch of him.

"I usually wash my hair by leaning over the edge of the tub." I tell him when he's done washing his own hair.

"Turn around and put your head back." He says in a gentle voice.

I do, I'm not even nervous I just do because I know I can trust Dallas, I know that he loves me. I tilt my head back and he guides me back until my head just hits the water and he keeps my bandages from getting wet as he wets my hair and then he pushes me to straighten. He turns me around as he steps back into the water stream and hands me the shampoo. We repeat the process so I can rinse and then again so I can condition and after I rinse my hair he turns off the water. I step up to him, putting my arms around his neck and ensnaring his lips with mine. His hands go to my hips gently and he kisses me back softly.

"I want to make love to you too but I'm still scared." I confess to him when I pull away from the kiss.

"I know Princess, it's gonna take time I know that." He says with an assuring smile as he kisses my cheek and wraps me in a towel.

We dry off and get ready for bed, he turns out the light and we get in bed together. He wraps his arms around me and I lay on my side with my head on his chest and my arm over him. The last thing I say before I fall asleep to the gentle rhythms of his breathing is that I love him.

**(DALLAS)**

I was in fourth period science class with Owen when Mr. Simpson interrupted the class over the speaker.

"Will Mike Dallas, Owen Milligan, Eli Goldsworthy and Adam Torres please come to my office?"

The rest of the class made the ooh you're in trouble noise. Owen and I looked at each other and left our desks knowing either the police were here to question us about Asher's beating or something was wrong with Clare. When I saw an officer in Mr. Simpson's office I knew they were here about Asher.

"Boys officer O'Neil here is taking you down to the station for questioning. You're parents and a lawyer Nick Williams is also meeting you there." Mr. Simpson tells us.

"If you boys will come with me please." Says the officer.

We follow him out of the building and I see Adam on his phone sending a text to Clare that tells her we'll be back after lunch and not to worry. When we get to the station Drew is there with his Mom and Nick, Eli's Dad and Owen's Mom.

"Hey they called me down too." Drew greets us.

"This is fucking ridiculous; none of these boys had anything to with that bastard ending up in the hospital. If you ask me he got what he deserved. I'm sure Clare isn't the first girl he assaulted and now you're putting more time and effort into finding that scum bags attackers than putting him away for Clare's rape!" Audra snaps at the officers.

"I agree." Nods Mrs. Milligan.

"We'll speak with Mr. Dallas first." Says a detective.

"Not without me." Nick tells them.

"Or me, he's under my care." Audra states and I see the look the detective gets on his face.

We follow the detective back to an interview room and sit down.

"Where were you around 8:30 Wednesday night?" The detective asks me.

"I stayed after practice to run drills with some of the guys on the team. You can ask our coach he gave me the keys to lock up. Clare was at a friend's house and tonight's game is very important so we wanted to get in some extra practice." I tell him as I lean back in my chair.

"Which teammates stayed with you?" He asks.

"Owen, Luke Baker and our rookie Campbell Saunders. Owen wants more ice time and Cam is a great player but sometimes he chokes up during the games." I say keeping my voice light and my face even.

"What friend's house was Miss Edwards at?" He asks.

"Alli Bhandari, Jenna Middleton was also there and Alli's parents. I picked her up about 9:15 or so and we went home." I inform him.

"You mean you took her to your house that night?" The detective asks.

"Technically the Torres house but yes she came home with me." I nod.

"Clare has been staying with us for several days. My youngest son is her best friend and Dallas is her boyfriend so she just feels safer at our house." Audra explains and the detective nods.

"As her boyfriend I assume you were angry when she told you about the rape and accused Mr. Shostak." It's really not a question and the detective asks it in an almost snide tone.

"What the fuck kind of question is that? Of course I was angry wouldn't you be if your wife got raped. We were all angry!" I growl at him.

"Angry enough to seek revenge?" The detective baits.

"When she first told me hell yeah I wanted revenge, I was ready to rip his fucking head off but she stopped me. We took her back to the doctor instead, as angry as I was she needed me and she was still frightened and so hurt so I put my anger aside to be there for her." I inform him; the more I deal with these cops the less I like them.

"When you say we who was with you?" Asks the detective.

"Luke Baker, Owen, Adam, Drew, Bianca, Eli and Dave Turner." I answer.

"So you never sought any sort of revenge? You never wanted to hurt Asher for what Miss Edwards said he did to her?" The detective asks.

"_If he calls them accusations one more time I swear I'm going to punch his nose through his head." _

"Of course I wanted to but I never did. Anytime I brought it up Clare begged me not to, she said it wouldn't do any good and she needed me. My only concern right now is her. I didn't beat Asher up but yeah I wanted to. I'm not sorry he's in the hospital but I didn't put him there." I state flatly.

"I told you the bastard got what he deserved and now you're questioning these kids when you should be arresting Asher for Clare's rape!" Audra snaps at them.

"Thank you Mr. Dallas that will be all for now can you ask Mr. Torres to come back please?" The detective requests.

"Which one?" I ask.

The detective opens his mouth but Audra speaks first. "Oh no you don't you can question my sons together. You call us down here in the middle of the day to question us about something so stupid we are getting out of here as quickly as possible." She informs him.

"Mrs. Torres that's not procedure, we…" he starts but she cuts him off again.

"I don't give a fuck about procedure, they weren't even together that night now you can question them together or we're leaving. Or you can arrest them in which case I will bring the mother of all civil suits against you and this station." She tells him.

"Send them both in." The detective gives in.

I wait till I'm down the hall to smile both at easing through my interview and at how Mrs. Torres handled him. If this is how all the interviews go we'll be back at school in an hour.

**(CLARE)**

"It was pretty funny actually; Mom barely let the guy talk. Adam told him he was with Eli rehearsing and I know Eli told him the same thing. I said I was B at the loft with Fi and Imogen." Drew was telling me what had happened at the police station earlier.

I had already gotten accounts from Dallas, Eli, Adam and Owen and they had all said pretty much the same thing. I was just glad they had been so smart and there was no evidence. Currently we were in Drew's car with Bianca, Jenna and Maya as we drove to the arena for the game.

"That dorky cop already called me, Fiona and Imogen and we all told him the same thing, we were at the loft all night watching movies." Bianca sort of laughs.

"He called me and Alli too, I guess to make sure Clare was really with us. Like she could have beaten up Asher that badly or at all with her injuries." Jenna comments.

"You guys are just lucky you weren't caught but he sure deserved it. Honestly I'm surprised Dallas and Owen didn't kill him that night he was at Little Miss Steaks." Maya remarks.

Drew parks at the arena and we get in line, a bunch of people recognize me right away and start pointing and whispering.

"Better stop staring or I'm gonna shut your damn eyes for good!" Bianca snarls at the people in front of us in line and they look away.

I smile at Bianca and then we're approached by Toby, one of the arena security guards. "Clare, you guys follow me." He says so we do.

He takes around to a side entrance and personally escorts us to our seats. We're not behind the bench this time but we are next to it. Now that there are people who can hear us we don't talk about the case, the rape or anything else to do with Asher. Pretty soon the music starts and the Ice Hounds skate out. Cam blows Maya a kiss, Dallas blows me one and Luke blows one to Jenna, I believe they'll be dating soon. Owen waves to us and Drew and Bianca cheer extra loud for him and then the opposing team skates out. As soon as the game starts I concentrate on watching Dallas and the others play, cheering and shouting and doing my best to ignore the fact that my backside smarts and stings like crazy! By the end of the first period I have to get up just so I'm not sitting anymore. Jenna and Bianca go to the snack stand while Maya and I sit with Drew. We're sitting there silently until a guy behind us calls to me and I turn to look at him.

"Are you that girl from the news?" He asks.

Drew leaps up and starts climbing over the seats to attack the guy so I grab Drew's arm and pull him back down.

"Ignore him Drew; he's not worth a fight." I say in a stern tone.

"Mind your own goddamn business." Drew barks at the guy.

"So you are the girl from the news." The guy says.

Now Maya turns around. "Yes she is but you better leave her alone! Her boyfriend is the Ice Hounds captain. My boyfriend is also on the team and my best friend's brother and if they find out you were bugging us it won't be good for you." Maya warns him.

"Also I'll let Drew hop over the seats to hurt you. You should know he's done MMA fighting before." I say without looking back at the guy.

Bianca and Jenna return with food and drinks for us and the guy doesn't bother us for the rest of the game. The Ice Hounds win 2 – 0 with the only two goals being scored by Cam and Dallas. Bianca shoves her way through the crowd so we can get out to our car and Jenna stays behind me so no one can bump into me. Marisol waves when we enter Little Miss Steaks and we go to the back and put the tables together. We all sit down at one end and Marisol brings us menus. Drew orders a burger, the other girls get dessert but I only order a soda. We can hear the Ice Hounds cheering from the parking lot, they come to the table with Dallas in the lead and he picks me up and kisses me then sits back down with me in his lap. Drew and Bianca are still where they were and Owen is sitting on the other side of us, Jenna moves to sit next to Luke and Maya is next to Cam.

"Nice game you guys killed that other team!" Bianca congratulates them.

"Couldn't have done it without my good luck charm." Cam smiles and kisses Maya's cheek.

"Me either." Dallas says and kisses me tenderly.

Marisol comes over with pitchers of sodas and tells the team their pizzas will be out shortly.

"Clare, Dallas come look at this!" She calls after she walks back to the bar.

I get up with Dallas and he puts his arm around me, Bianca, Drew, Jenna, Luke, Owen, Maya and Cam also get up. We walk to Marisol to see the TV behind the bar has a breaking news story and Marisol turns up the volume so we can hear what the reporter is saying.

"By now most people have heard of the rape allegations brought against fellow reporter Asher Shostak. Mr. Shostak who is recovering in the hospital from a beating was accused of rape by Clare Edwards, a DeGrassi Community School student and former intern for Mr. Shostak." The female field reporter says and they show my school picture from last year. I'm starting to get mad but the reporter keeps talking. "Until now Miss Edwards claims were unsubstantiated but a short time ago eight other women came to the police station, all of whom are also former interns for Mr. Shostak and all of whom claim to have been harassed and assaulted by Mr. Shostak during their internships. Mr. Shostak is not being allowed visitors but we're hoping to get a word with one of the women or the lead detective on this case. Stay tuned to this station for updates as soon as they happen. This is…"

Marisol turns down the TV and everyone looks at me and then Drew's phone rings and we all look at him as he pulls it from his pocket.

"It's Mom." He says and then answers it and we hear his side. "Hi Mom…they are?" Drew says and gets a huge smile on his face but keeps talking. "Yeah I'm with them…sure…okay bye." Drew says and hangs up.

"Well?" Bianca demands as soon as he hangs up.

"With the testimony from the other girls it was enough for the judge to issue a warrant to arrest Asher. As soon as he gets out of the hospital he'll be arrested for your rape and assaults against some of the other girls." Drew tells us.

I'm so happy, so relieved I want to jump for joy but I can't seem to move. Dallas solves this problem by picking me up by the waist and holding me above him before crashing our lips together in an elated kiss.

**Update Soon**


	34. Picnic

**Sorry for the sort of short chapter, my weekend got all kinds of busy and once I started writing the Betrayal one shot I couldn't stop and this should have been up yesterday but I didn't start on it until late. Knight in Shining Hoodie update will be up very late tonight or tomorrow morning. **

**Ch. 34 Picnic**

**(CLARE)**

Dallas pulled away from the kiss smiling, I was smiling too but I was still sort of in shock. After everything, all the fear, the threats, the assaults, the rape, the aftermath after all of it Asher was finally exposed. It wasn't just my word and that of my friends against his. There were others, other girls that had stories similar to mine and while it was unlikely that any of the others had experienced the level brutality that I had it meant I wasn't alone. I wasn't the only one he had assaulted and everyone would know that he was a creep. It all seemed almost unreal I half expected to wake up in bed with Dallas holding me and still have to struggle to get anyone to believe me.

"He's going to jail Princess; he's not going to get away with it." Dallas said.

He carried me back to the table and sat down with me on his lap. Everyone else moved back to the table, everyone saying congratulations and that's great and that sort of thing. It seemed kind of a funny thing to be getting congratulated on, getting a man to be arrested but really what was appropriate to say in such a situation and it was a cause for celebration. Asher's pending arrest and what would surely follow became the topic of conversation and the more we talked about it the more the shock wore off and the more real it felt. I began to smile and relax and started feeling hungry an actual desire to eat! I hadn't felt a desire to eat in a long time; I really hadn't felt a true desire for much of anything other than making the rape disappear in a long time.

"I'm hungry." I whispered to Dallas.

"Anything you want Princess." Dallas said.

"Chocolate cake and ice cream and a chocolate milkshake." I told him.

"You really are hungry." He laughed a little.

"I haven't really felt hungry in a long time, I'm catching up." I insisted.

He smiled and kissed my neck then whistled to get Marisol's attention. She came over and Dallas put in the order, Marisol brought it out a few minutes later. I started eating hungrily, ravenously like I had been starving for weeks. I finished the cake and the ice cream but only managed half the shake Dallas finished it for me however. We stayed until closing of course and walked outside in a group, everyone congratulated me again. Luke, Jenna, Maya and Cam all gave me hugs. Drew and Bianca hugged me together and said they would come over tomorrow. Luke took Maya, Cam and Jenna home, Drew and Bianca had come in his car but Owen still took Dallas and I home and I still sat in his lap the whole way in the passenger seat.

"Thanks for the ride Owen." I thank him, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"Of course, I'll come over tomorrow." Owen smiled.

We got out of his SUV and went inside; Audra, Omar, Adam and Eli were in the living room talking it stopped when we came in. They didn't look sad or pensive or angry though everyone was happy.

"Mom called while we were at rehearsal this is great! He's going to jail!" Adam exclaimed happily.

"That bastard is going to get exposed and shown for the pedophile he is." Eli said with a genuine smile.

"He'll be in the hospital another couple of days. The judge will most likely set a trial date on Monday." Omar told us.

We talked a while longer about what the upcoming week was likely to hold so we would all be prepared. Eli was spending the night and they had already spoken to all the others about celebrating tomorrow. It was close to midnight when we all said goodnight and Dallas and I went downstairs. He helped me off with my shirt and bra and then began undressing himself. When he had taken off his jacket and shirt I put my hands on his chest and gently leaned against him.

"He's going to jail, he's being exposed, I'm not invisible anymore they all have to believe me now." I breathed against his chest.

"I told you he would pay and we still got to beat the crap out of him." Dallas said, putting his arms around my back and then he kissed my head.

I gave him a lopsided smile as I slid my hands up his chest to his shoulders and connected our lips. I hungered to kiss him as I had hungered for food earlier. I was trying to make myself taller, to kiss him more and he took me by the waist and lifted me up. He walked me back to the bed and laid me down and I never felt the need to break from the kiss.

"I didn't hurt your back did I?" Dallas asked.

I didn't answer simply pulled him in to the kiss again. He turned so we were on our sides and therefore the pressure was off my back. We were both topless but still had jeans on and they were making a swishing sound as they rubbed against each other. Then his hand moved from my back and caressed down my stomach finding the button of my jeans and undoing it. He started pulling down the zipper and I wasn't even scared, his lips were on mine, his arms around me and I felt nothing but safe and loved. The only reminder of the rape was the stinging feeling of the healing scabs on my back.

When my jeans were open his hand slid in and under my panties finding my clitoris with his fingertip he gently rubbed. My breathing hitched, my body quivered, the fire in belly was being stoked, the embers of passion and ecstasy that Asher had smothered were being relit, heating to once again become a fevered roaring fire of wanting. There was no fear, there was no feeling of violation, there was no disgust or feeling of being used and thrown away. I felt wanted, cared for, desired and most importantly loved, very loved. Dallas tried to move his hand down a little farther but it wasn't possible with my jeans on. He stopped everything and looked up at me.

"Take them off." I answered his silent question.

"Are you sure? Asher's being arrested does not erase what happened." He said.

"I want you, I want to feel you. I may not be ready to have sex yet but I feel good, happy and light. Nothing is going to take away the rape or erase it from my memory but I can't hide behind this fear. I want you to undress me and I want to feel you, I may ask you to stop as soon as you do but I have to try and right now I need this." I insist to him.

Possibly the most pleased and lustfully blissful smile I have ever seen spreads across his lips before he places them on mine. The kiss is quick but filled with so much desire, passion and fervor that I can feel myself getting wet. He takes his lips from me and I lay on my back as he straddles my body with his, slowly moving down my body. He lays an open mouth kiss on my clavicle, then moves down a little to lay one between my breasts, then down a little farther placing one just below my ribs and then one just above the waistband of my jeans. Each gentle kiss sends a tremble of anticipation through me.

He spreads my legs and sits between them and begins to slowly pull my jeans off, being particularly gentle going over the healing abrasions. Once my jeans are on the floor he hooks his fingers in my panties and pulls them down my legs slowly. He looks at me as if expecting me to stop him but I only nod for him to continue and he does, tossing my panties behind him. He spreads my legs a little wider and softly caresses up my inner thigh with his fingers. I gasp a little, catching it in my throat and letting it out as a soft moan when he touches my pussy lips. His fingers start to enter me and suddenly there's pain and I hiss in a breath.

Dallas stops and looks up at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, just very tender still but I'm not scared, I still feel you." I assure him.

"Then let's try something a little more gentle." He smiles.

He slides down farther his head disappearing between my legs and then I feel his tongue slipping into my slit. I make a shuddering breath and gasp all at once and my hands grip the bedspread. His tongue while still slightly painful is much softer and more nimble than his fingers and just like our first sexual encounter I feel incredible. This sensation, these feelings he's sending through me are indescribable. His tongue doesn't reach quite as far as his fingers but he seems to know exactly where and how to work his tongue. I'm still in some pain down there and writhing on the bed is aggravating my scarped flesh but it's all worth it. Everything and everyone else in the world melts away, the world ceases to exist except for us and this cloud of blissful ecstasy and passion I am floating on.

"Ahmmm Mmmmmike." I exhale in a moan as I orgasm.

His tongue makes a few more laps and then he withdraws. My body continues to tremble, I turn on my side a little as the immense pleasure slowly dissipates and is replaced, unfortunately by pain. Dallas turns out the light and I hear him taking off his jeans. He lies next to me, pulls the blanket over us and puts his arm around me kissing the back of my neck lightly.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yes very, there's more pain again but it was well worth it." I inform him as I begin to breathe normal and stop trembling once more. "What about you?" I question with a yawn when exhaustion begins to take over as the pleasure gives way to the pain.

"You're my Princess I live to pleasure you. That was wonderful for me, now sleep." He commands.

I yawn again, tighten his arms around me and am soon asleep.

**(DALLAS)**

A loud banging on the door wakes us both up late the next morning. Clare's eyes shoot open and she sits up quickly the blanket falls off her and her breasts are revealed. She gasps and quickly covers them with the blanket again.

"Don't cover them." I whine sitting up, brushing her hair from her face and kissing the nape of her neck.

She kind of giggles and sighs happily at the same time. "It's instinct." She says.

"You don't have to h…" I'm interrupted by more banging and yelling from the door that leads to the living room.

"GET UP THERE'S PANCAKES!" Adam yells through the door.

"KEEP YOUR FUCKING PANTS ON!" I yell back.

"DUDE PUT SOME FUCKING PANTS ON AND GET YOUR ASSES UP HERE!" Owen hollers through the door.

I sigh and kiss Clare's neck again. "I believe our presence is required Princess, we'll continue this later. You okay, you're not in too much pain are you?" I ask her.

She turns and smiles at me. "I'm okay, it doesn't hurt much anymore but if we don't get up there soon Adam and Owen may break the door down." She tells me.

I sigh but get out of bed and pull her with me, taking just a second to admire her naked body in the soft light of the late morning sun. For the first time ever in my life I wish that my talents were artistic rather than athletic because I wish I could capture her like this, in paints or oils or something. I know she still has bruises and scratches and most of her backside is covered by bandages but I see none of that only the most gorgeous of female figures in front of me. She starts to dress and I frown, it seems almost criminal to cover such beauty with clothing all though I don't want Drew or Adam or any of the team or especially her ex to see her this way. They are all my friends but this sight is exclusively mine. Once we're both ready we go upstairs to find the living room full of people. Aside from the whole Torres clan there's Eli, Bianca, Alli, Jenna, Dave, Owen, Jake, Katie, Luke, Becky, Tristan, Tori, Zig, Maya and Cam.

"Mom made chocolate chip pancakes you better get some before Drew, Owen and Luke eat them all." Adam tells us from the table.

"I can make more; you kids eat all you want." Audra insists.

Clare and I get plates and pancakes, I take about eight and she takes two but at least she appears to still have an appetite. The table if full and so is the sofa and the floor around the coffee table. Bianca is sitting on the sofa next to Drew and she moves into Drew's lap, taking her plate and sitting with her back against the arm rest. I sit and put Clare in my lap; she holds her plate and leans back against me to eat.

"Nick will want to meet with you sometime next week Clare, to start preparing for your deposition." Omar tells her and she nods.

"You can have your mom with you if you like and then…" Audra was interrupted by Adam.

"Guys it's Saturday will you give her the weekend to celebrate the fact that he's being arrested before you start hitting her with all the legal stuff." Adam says.

"You're right Adam; you should relax this weekend and celebrate. Your parents are coming over this afternoon to talk about things but all you kids should go celebrate, go do something fun." Omar says.

Everyone stops eating and looks at Clare, she looks at me.

"Why are they all looking at me?" She whispers.

"Because you're the princess Princess. What do you want to do?" I ask her.

She looks thoughtful for a minute, rolling her lip between her teeth as she thinks it over carefully.

"I want to go somewhere quiet and peaceful and away from everything. No reporters, no one to recognize me from the news." Clare tells us and I think this a reasonable request.

"Well I know a good spot but it's a hike, kind of a long one up a mountain and with the bandages and scratches on your back I don't know how much you want to hike." Bianca tells us.

"I can give her a piggy back." I shrug.

"We have a picnic basket you can pack a lunch." Audra says.

Clare smiles happily and she looks so beautiful. After we've all eaten breakfast we all start getting ready for the hike. Almost everybody goes home to change and get supplies. Clare changes into jeans and then the two of us and Adam go to the store to get stuff for sandwiches and drinks. Clare and Adam make sandwiches for everyone while I pack two small coolers with water, sodas, baby and some food; dividing it among the two coolers so it's not too heavy for one person to carry. Everyone came back here and we packed everything up, put all the food and backpacks in the back of Jake's truck, the rest of us divided up between Audra's minivan, which I drove, Owen's SUV and Drew's car.

We all follow Drew's car since Bianca is the only one that knows where we're going. The drive there takes over half an hour and when we park we divvy up the stuff to carry. For about half a mile the trail is relatively flat and Clare does okay but as soon as the incline gets steeper she starts saying ow with every breath so I give the cooler I'm carrying to Luke and put her on my back. We hike about half way up this mountain; it's at least two miles and takes the whole group of us about two and half hours since some of us are in better shape than others. By the time we reach the place we're all starving for lunch but I have to admit it was a beautiful spot and when I heard Clare gasp in delight when she first saw it I knew she was happy and that's all I care about. There's a meadow in a clearing of trees and in the middle a small pond on the back drop of mountains and forests it really is beautiful, almost as beautiful as Clare.

"Bianca this place is gorgeous how did you ever find it?" Clare asks as I set her down.

"Before my dad took off we used to hike up here, after he left I would still come up here sometimes." Bianca tells her in a somewhat sad tone and Drew puts an arm around her.

We spread out four blankets to make one big square and we all sit down, Adam and Becky start spreading out the food and everyone grabs food as soon as its out. Clare takes a sandwich and leans against me as she eats slowly. For a while we all just eat quietly, enjoying the serenity of this place and the calm of having no police or reporters or anything else.

"Hey so what are we doing for your birthday Clare?" Adam asks.

"Yeah it's in a couple of weeks what do you want to do?" Alli questions.

All eyes fall to Clare again. "I don't know, honestly with all that was going on I sort of forgot about it. I wasn't even sure I wanted to celebrate." She sort of shrugs.

"Asher's going to prison Clare, you should celebrate." Eli encourages.

"The Ice Hounds have a game that night that's what I'll do." She replies.

"Princess you always come to our games. We'll have a party; the next night I bet Audra would even let us have it at the house." I tell her and she smiles.

"What is everyone doing for Spring Break? It's only a month away." Luke points out.

"We should all do something together." Adam says.

"We could all go to the cabin." Jake offers.

"Jake we can't all fit in the cabin there's only one bedroom." Clare remarks.

"Yeah and last time we were there it was scary." Katie comments.

"And you and me spent most of the night looking for Clare in the dark woods." Drew adds.

"Yes but I found her." Eli smirks.

"I'm lost in the conversation someone draw me a map." I request.

"It's a long story." Clare giggles.

"I am not going back to that cabin!" Alli states firmly.

"Actually I'm going home for spring break." Cam says.

"You mean I have to be without you for a week?" Maya pouts.

"Actually I was kind of hoping you could come home with me. My mom really wants to meet you." Cam tells her and Maya looks at Katie.

"We'll talk to Mom and Dad tonight; they'll want to speak with your mom Campbell." Katie says and Cam nods.

"Are you going home for spring break?" Clare asks me with a worried look.

"I was," I admit and she bites her lip and looks away. I cup her chin in my hand and make her look at me again. "I'm not now, I told my parents and they understand. It's no big deal and I'm not leaving you." I assure her and kiss her softly.

"My parents and I spent the night in Port Dover last year on our way to my grandma's. It's right on the beach at Lake Eerie and there were beach houses. I think if we all chip in to rent it would be pretty cheap." Dave tells us.

"So aside from Maya and Cam the rest of us are going right?" Clare inquires.

"Uh I don't know if…" Tristan is interrupted by his brother.

"If I'm going then Mom and Dad will let you go and I'm going." Owen tells him.

"My mom might let me go." Tori says.

"I'll talk to her." Owen tells her.

Everyone else says they're coming and now that people are done eating they start getting up. Bianca strips down to her undergarments to jump in the pond, Drew, Alli, Dave, Jenna and Luke do the same. Adam and Becky go walking hand in hand, so do Maya and Cam. Eventually the only two people left on the blankets are Clare and me. She lies on her side and puts her head in my lap, I stroke her hair gently.

"I know it's early Princess but what's your birthday wish?" I ask her.

"I have three," she says after a moment of quiet contemplation.

"What are they?" I question.

"Number one that Asher gets found guilty and sent to prison for a very long time. Two that I get better, in all ways, fast so that we can make love. And three that I never have to go home, well not never but not for a very long while, I know I'll have to go home at some point but the thought of not sleeping in your arms every night, not waking up with you and to a lesser degree not having Adam so close by, it's sort of scary. I don't want to leave all that and go back to sleeping in my own bed alone." She confesses to me.

"Those all seem reasonable to me and it's not my birthday but I want all of that too. I don't have much control over the first one but I'm sure Asher will be sent away for a long time, especially with all the testimony from the other girls. As for the second your healing every day and you will be better soon enough, until then there are other things we can do. As for number three I'm fairly certain we can keep you. Your mom will probably want to see you sometimes but the Torres' have kind of adopted you and if we talk to them I'm sure they'll let you stay." I tell her.

She smiles blissfully and takes my hand interlacing our fingers. "I love you Mike." She breathes.

"I love you Clare." I tell her before kissing her hand in mine.

**(CLARE)**

"I need to bathe." I say after we went down to the basement, having arrived home from the hike.

We'd arrived home just before dark and after unpacking, saying goodbye to the others and eating we came downstairs.

"You? You were on my back almost the whole way down. I need a shower but you can get in with me." Dallas says with a coy smile.

"I think you just want to see me naked." I smile back.

"Well that too." He admits.

He goes to the washroom and turns on the shower; I follow him in and start undressing. He helps me off with my shirt and then undresses himself. Just like last time he gets in the water stream to keep it off my bandages. For a minute he just stands there watching me and it makes me blush.

"Stop staring, it's embarrassing." I giggle.

"Sorry but you're sexy." He apologizes.

I wash up, then he helps me wash my hair and I get out of the shower at which point he pouts because I'm leaving him and covering my nakedness.

"If I stay in the shower then you'll never get clean." I reply.

I open the washroom door slowly and look out to make sure no one's in the basement before I go out, since I don't think we locked the basement door. Seeing no one out there I go out and put on clean panties and one of Dallas' dress shirts. I go to the sofa to put on a movie and then Dallas' phone rings; I expect it to be Owen or one of the others so I grab it from the bed where he tossed it when we got home. The ID says it's a local number so I answer, if it's a reporter I can always hang up.

"Hello?" I say into the phone as I sit on the sofa again and turn on the TV.

No one answers so I say hello again. There's no answer but I hear breathing on the other end, then chuckling and something in the background a beeping noise. Then it occurs to me, the beeping it's a heart monitor and the only person I know in the hospital is Asher! I hang up quickly and turn on Dallas' laptop and look up the number that just called. The number is from a local hospital, the one closest to the Interpreter in fact. I swallow hard and feel tears at my eyes and call the hospital.

"Toronto General, nurse's station." A voice says.

"Mr. Shostak's room please." I say keeping my voice as steady as possible.

The nurse asks who's calling and I tell them it's his boss and then I get transferred and then someone picks up.

"Hello?" It's Asher's voice, it sounds pained and strained and slightly different but it's Asher's voice. I only gasp into the phone and I can't seem to hang up then I hear him chuckle like before. "Clare is that you? I was just thinking about you." He says in a vile tone and then coughs.

I make a choked shriek, hang up the phone and throw it back on the bed.

**Update soon longer chapter next time I promise.**


	35. On My Mind

**Ch. 35 On My Mind**

**(CLARE)**

After tossing the phone on the bed I rush to the washroom. "MIKE!" I shriek while walking.

I open the door quickly sort of slamming it against the wall, Dallas turns off the shower and gets out, wrapping a towel around his waist and soaking wet but I don't care. I go straight to him throwing my arms around him. He hugs me back tightly and his dress shirt I'm wearing quickly becomes soaked.

"Princess what is it? What's wrong?" He asks.

"He called; he called your phone because he doesn't have my new number. He didn't say anything bu…" I'm talking rapidly and he cuts me off by scooping me up.

"Who called Princess?" He asks as he walks out to the bed and sits on the edge putting me in his lap.

"Asher." I tell him.

His face gets hard and concerned all at once. "Asher called my phone?" He asks.

"Your phone rang and I thought it was Owen or Drew or one of them so I picked it up. It was a local number so I answered ready to hang up if it was a reporter but there was just breathing on the other end. Then laughing and then I heard the heart monitor in the background. I hung up and looked the number up on your laptop and it came from the hospital so I called the number back and asked for Asher's room. The nurse transferred me and Asher said hello, he sounded strange and in pain but it was definitely his voice. I was too scared to say anything then he asked if it was me and said he was just thinking about me. I hung up and came to you." I tell him.

He tightens his arms around me and kisses my head, his arms are pressing into my abrasions and it stings but I don't care.

"He's in a hospital and he gets arrested as soon as he gets out, he can't get you. I won't let him anywhere near you." Dallas assures me.

"I know but I haven't heard his voice since that night and it…" I bite my lip and cut off my own sentence.

"He will never touch you again Princess." Dallas asserts and I nod against his chest. "Why don't you get on a dry shirt and I'll put on some boxers and we can watch a movie." He tells me.

"Okay." I smile a little.

The mere act of being in Dallas' embrace has made me feel better, safe, protected and very loved. I get off his lap and we go to the closet, pulling down his last clean dress shirt.

"I think I better buy a few more dress shirts since you always sleep in them." Dallas remarks.

"Sorry," I apologize, "I can pick up my PJ's from home tomorrow." I tell him as I take off the wet dress shirt and slip on the dry one beginning to button it.

Dallas comes over and buttons the shirt for me, not because I can't but because he gets pleasure out of it and he likes to linger over my breasts.

"No I love to see you in my dress shirts; I'd rather go buy a few more." He smiles.

He takes my hand and we walk to the sofa, I sit down while he picks out a movie and puts it on. He comes to the sofa, sits down and I lean against him as he puts his arm around me. I fall asleep watching the movie but hearing Asher's voice tonight got to me more than I realized and I wake up from a disturbing dream some time later. I sit up quickly waking Dallas in the process and I realize we're still on the sofa, he must have fallen asleep during the movie too since the TV's still on and the menu is playing over and over.

"What's wrong Princess?" He asks wrapping his arms around me as he sits up.

"Just a dream, didn't mean to wake you Mike." I apologize.

"It's fine we should move to the bed anyway." He says pushing me up a little so he can stand and then taking my hand to pull me from the sofa.

He switches off the TV and we go to the bed, I get in first and he gets in behind me, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the back of my neck.

"You going to be able to get back to sleep?" He asks me.

"If I'm in your arms I should be okay." I tell him.

"I think we should talk to Audra and your mom tomorrow about you staying here." He suggests.

"I'm afraid they'll say no." I confess.

"If they say no we'll figure something out, get some sleep Princess." He says leaning up a little to kiss the corner of my mouth.

I close my eyes and am soon fast asleep again.

**(DALLAS)**

"Clare wants to stay here, move in sort of. She feels better here and we both sleep better." I tell Audra, Omar, Helen and Glen as we sit at the dining table for lunch.

Helen and Glen came for lunch and to discuss things about the upcoming trial and everything that will proceed it. We decided to talk to them now and Adam was with us for support.

"She is staying here until she feels better and then she can come home." Helen says.

"I don't have the flu mom, I was raped! You don't just get better. Things are…" Clare pauses and looks like she's searching for the right word or right way to describe it.

"She is doing a little better and knowing Asher will be arrested helped her mental state but it doesn't fix things." I tell the parents.

"I just…feel better here with Mike with me and Adam right upstairs. Asher's getting arrested but I still feel…" she stops again biting her lip.

She's having trouble getting her thoughts in order and I put my arm around her.

She takes a deep breath and starts again. "The rape and what it did to me, the reporters, the pending trial and the fear that Asher can still get to me as irrational as that fear may be, it's a lot and I know that your all there for me and I know you're worried about me mom but I need Mike and Adam and my other friends. Things will never be the same again; my life is divided now into before the rape and after." Clare says pausing for a deep breath.

"Oh Baby." Her mom says taking Clare's hand that's resting on the table.

"Look I know it isn't normal but I'm not normal anymore and I'm not asking to live with my boyfriend so we can have sex every night. I'm asking to stay here and be with my boyfriend and my best friend because I feel safe, because it's where I need to be. I sleep better in Dallas' arms and that's all we do is sleep." She insists to the grownups.

It isn't true at all but we're trying to convince the parents that we aren't sexually active at all so she can stay even after the trial.

"I like having Clare here and I feel better knowing she's right downstairs and that Dallas will keep her safe." Adam tells the parents.

"We love having Clare here and certainly don't mind keeping her." Audra smiles and Omar nods.

"Sweetie if this is what you need then I will support it but when will we see you?" Her mom asks.

"We'll come for dinner, Wednesday nights after practices or games and Sunday after you get back from church for brunch or lunch and stay for the day." I tell them.

"Okay but are you sure about this Baby?" Helen asks.

"Yes Mom, I'm not trying to get away from you or anything, I just I need Mike. I wish I could explain it better so that you would understand but what I feel, what I'm going through there just aren't words for. Maybe after the trial and after things have calmed down I'll feel differently and want to come back but right now I need to be here, I need Mike and I need Adam right here with me." Clare asserts.

Audra and Helen look at each other and then Helen sighs a little.

"Okay Clare as long as we can see you twice a week at least. I guess you should come home and get some more stuff then, clothes and anything else you'll need. Is there space?" Helen asks.

"I'll make some." I tell them.

"Why don't you kids go do that, Nick will be here any minute to meet with us." Omar suggests.

"Good idea oh and you should probably tell Nick Asher called my phone last night. He doesn't have Clare's new number so he called my phone and she happened to answer. He didn't say anything but he laughed. She looked up the number it was for the hospital she called it back and asked for his room. She didn't say anything but he guessed it was her and he told her he was thinking about her." I inform them.

"He did what?" Glen and Helen demanded together.

"We'll tell Nick, we can take out an order of protection." Omar said.

We wave goodbye to the parents and get in the minivan to drive to Clare's house. I let Adam drive and sit in the back with my arms around my princess.

"So what do you want to bring?" I ask Clare after we get to her house and up to her room.

"I don't know how much space do I have?" She questions.

"I'll make you as much room as you need." I assure her cupping her chin and kissing her softly.

"We can always put your stuff in Drew's room." Adam shrugs.

"Okay well I guess I should bring most of my clothes then, some of my toiletries, my book." She says and then smiles. "Let's start with clothes, there's a suitcase on the top shelf of the of the hall closet." She tells us.

I go out to the closet and pull down the suitcase, putting it on her bed for her. She starts pulling clothes from her dresser and closet, Adam helps her to pack them until she starts pulling out sexy things like bras and panties and his cheeks go red. Adam turns and starts getting some of her books; I guess he knows which ones she wants. She takes a few pictures from her bookshelf and desk, putting them in another bag and says that's it.

"You sure that's all you want? We'll find space for anything." I tell her.

"That's all, I'm not moving across the country just a few blocks besides we'll be here twice a week if there's something else I want I can come and get it." She tells us.

Adam and I carry her bags to the car and I drive us back to the Torres house. The parents are still here, meeting and we can kind of hear them talking.

"I'll unpack later, can we call the others and go hang out at the park or something? No go miniature golfing again, I want to go miniature golfing again." She insists.

"I'll start driving us there you two start calling the others." I tell them and we get back in the minivan.

"Eli's on his way, so is Owen, Alli, Dave and Jenna." Clare says when we park.

"Drew has to work but Bianca, Luke and Becky are on their way." Adam says.

We go in and wait for the others at one of the tables. Once we're all together we pay at the booth and go back to the course. Clare is moving cautiously and stiffly still, she can't hit the ball with much power but she doesn't care, even the pain doesn't seem to be bothering her. She just looks happy and as long as she's happy I'm in heaven. After we play a round we go into the arcade and I grab Adam, Luke and Owen while Clare is distracted playing skeeball with the girls.

"Hey I need your help, the play opens Friday and we're all going and we have games on Wednesday and Saturday so this week is busy but I want to have a special date with Clare after the game on Saturday which means we won't be joining you at the restaurant after. So listen here's what I need from you guys." I say as we huddle up and I explain my plan to them.

**(CLARE)**

"That seems so far away." I lament leaning on my locker.

"At least we get to enjoy spring break first." Adam says trying to cheer me up.

"What's going on?" Eli questions coming up to his locker.

"We got a trial date, the Monday after spring break." I tell Eli.

"Isn't that good? You can enjoy your spring break." Eli says.

"No I'm going to be stressed about it all through spring break. I just want him to go away." I reply.

"Don't worry we'll distract you." Adam tells me.

"He's supposed to be released from the hospital on Wednesday and then he gets arrested." Eli reminds me.

"Yeah I know," I say and try to smile but somehow none of this is comforting.

Eli walks with us to class and Adam keeps trying to cheer me up. At morning break we all meet at the tables outside. Dave's telling us about the vacation house we can rent for spring break. It's three stories and six rooms and sleeps twenty which is good since so far 17 of us are going. We can get it for a whole week and it only ends up being $50/per person for the whole week. Plus food and gas and stuff but it's still really cheap. As much as I want the trial to be over and done with I am looking forward to spring break. A week of relaxing on the beach in Dallas' arms sounds wonderful.

I spend the rest of the school day thinking about spring break. I hope my abrasions are healed by then, all the way not just scabs that sting and hurt like crazy. I want to be able to be able to be more intimate with Dallas, although that may be hard in a house with 17 other people but I'm sure we can figure it out. I am sort of excited for my birthday now and at least I got one of my birthday wishes early, I live at Adam's house now permanently and I get to sleep in Dallas' arms every night even after I stop being scared all the time.

After school I go with the Ice Hounds to practice, riding in Owen's car since I like it best that way. I wait outside the locker room, like always, for Dallas to change into his uniform and skates. We walk to the edge of the ice together hand in hand then he steps onto the ice and picks me up into his arms and within seconds he's speeding across the ice and I feel like I'm flying. The winds rushes through my hair, my feet aren't touching the ground, this feeling is incredible, the only thing that has ever topped it was the orgasm I got courtesy of Dallas' tongue the other night. He sets me down on the bench and I'm smiling widely, he tips my chin up and kisses me softly. Owen skates up carrying my backpack with my books so I can do homework. Not that I can usually concentrate on my homework at practices but I try.

By the time practice is over I have managed to finish about half my homework. Owen gets my backpack while Dallas picks me up and we fly across the ice again. Owen takes us home since Adam stayed late at school to help Eli with the play. I give Owen a kiss on the cheek as we get out of the car and we wave to him as we walk in. We eat pretty quickly and then escape downstairs, it's like having our own little apartment and I love it. It's fairly early still but we get ready for bed anyway and sit on the sofa to watch TV. We don't hear Adam come back until after ten and he calls goodnight before going up to his room.

"Have I mentioned how happy I am that I got to move in?" I inquire after we get into his; I guess our bed and lie with him with his arms around me.

"Have I mentioned how happy I am you moved in? Now you never have to leave my arms again. We're spending spring break together and then Asher will be sent to jail for a very long time." Dallas says.

I smile happily against his chest and then something occurs to me and I frown a little. "Mike what happens this summer, you're graduating and your family is going to want you back at some point." I point out and my voice takes on a tone of sadness.

"I'll have to go home at least for a while during the summer, plus I don't know if Audra and Omar will let me stay here when I'm not going to DeGrassi anymore." Dallas says and I stop breathing as the thought of Dallas leaving next year is both frightening and breaks my heart. He kisses my lips gently forcing me to exhale and he touches our noses lightly. "I'm not leaving you Princess, you could come home with me and I can go to school here next year. I'll get my own place if I have to I'm not going to leave you." Dallas assures me.

"Mike I love you and I don't want you to leave either but you can't put everything on hold for my sake. You'll be getting offers to play for Universities soon you can't pass that up. Asher will be in jail and I'll have Adam and the others that aren't also graduating." I protest.

"I just got you, I'm not leaving you for anything, the schools can wait." He insists.

"Mike that's not…"

He cuts me off with a kiss, soft but passionate and full of love and I forget the argument and lose myself in the kiss.

"Go to sleep Princess, don't worry about it now." Dallas commands.

I sigh but close my eyes and try and sleep but I can't help wishing he doesn't leave and then feeling guilty for being selfish.

**(ADAM)**

"I'm surprised your mom didn't ask any questions or have any concerns when we told her our plans for spring break." I remark as Clare and I sit in the memorial garden during free period.

"She likes Mike plus I think she figures in a house with so many other kids we either aren't going to be able to do anything or it's going to be one big orgy and she can't stop it." She replies.

"True, but don't mention the word orgy around my brother, or Owen, or Luke they might get ideas." I comment and Clare laughs.

"I also think it helped that Mike and I have been sharing a bed and I've moved in. I guess she figures if we're not having sex at home in our bed then won't at vacation beach house filled with other kids." She says and then her phone rings and she pulls it out and answers without looking at the caller ID since only a few people have her new number now. I only hear her side of the conversation of course. "Hello…what? What do you mean he…but…yeah okay thanks." She says and hangs up.

"Who was that?" I ask.

"That was Nick, Asher was arrested but he posted bail. He's free until trial Adam. Nick said that he's still badly injured and is convalescing at his home. Nick is filing a restraining order just to be safe and an order of protection but we won't hear from the judge if they've been approved until Friday." Clare tells me.

"He can't even walk he can't come after you and you know none of us will let him near you. The Ice Hounds have a game tonight and we'll all be there. We'll keep you safe Clare." I assure her.

"I know." She says softly nodding a little.

"You want to go find Dallas?" I ask.

"No lunch is next period and we're all eating together, we can tell them then." She says.

Clare is sad now and a little scared even though she knew that Asher was too injured to come after her and that none of us would let him anywhere near her. I was trying to cheer her up and make her feel better and safer but it wasn't working very well and I was counting the minutes until lunch when Dallas could hold her because I knew she would feel safe then. Then we saw Owen passing by on his way to the washroom most likely, he saw us, smiled and waved a bit took a couple more steps stopped and came back with his eyebrows knit together and his mouth twisted.

"What's wrong?" He asked opening the door to the garden

"Asher posted bail, he's too injured to do anything and she knows we'll protect her but she's still worried." I told the older boy.

"Come on," Owen said taking Clare by the hand and helping her up.

Owen and Dallas had the same class this period and that's where we were headed. We stopped by the door and the class could see us from the interior windows of the classroom. Everyone looked over when Owen waved to Dallas including the teacher but no one stopped Dallas when he got up and left the classroom.

"What happened?" Dallas asked going straight to Clare and wrapping her in his arms, she relaxed as soon as he had her.

"Asher's out on bail." Owen told him.

"I was going to tell the rest of you at lunch. Asher just called a short time ago." Clare told him.

"He won't get near you." Dallas affirmed.

"I know." She nodded.

**(CLARE)**

"I can't believe that bastard got out on bail!" Bianca exclaimed.

We were all sitting in the front row near the Ice Hounds player bench waiting for the game to start. At lunch Owen let everyone else know that Asher was out on bail, including Drew who had come down to eat with us. I knew Asher was too injured to come after me and even if he tried Dallas and the others would most likely just outright kill him this time. It didn't matter though; the thought that he could come after me, the thought that he could call me or contact me at all was terribly frightening. Asher was no longer a man he was a monster to me, a monster that invaded my dreams and thoughts and had the power to frighten me without do anything.

"He didn't murder anyone, he's a respected member of society or at least he was but the judge would have set bail based on the crimes and Asher's character up until being accused. The bail was probably relatively low and if Asher didn't have the money himself he has plenty of friends that are wealthy." I tell them.

"I hate to say it but it's possible the judge felt sorry for him because we beat him up so much." Eli remarked.

"Yeah but he deserved it." Adam says.

"Well yeah." Eli nodded.

The music started and the players came out, Cam was first blowing Maya a kiss. Then Luke who waved to us and blew Jenna a kiss, Owen waved to us and then skated backwards into the box to show off. Dallas was last and he blew me a kiss of course. Since this game was on a Wednesday night it had started earlier than the Friday games and was less busy. The first period went by fast and the Ice Hounds were behind by one.

"They don't seem to be playing as well as they usually do." Zig commented.

"They seem sort of distracted." Maya said.

I looked at Eli and Adam, were they distracted because of me, because of Asher being out on bail?

"You don't think they're distracted because of me? Because of Asher?" I asked.

"Maybe, I mean he has tried to contact you before. We're all a little worried that he'll try and contact you, get in your head somehow. Psyche you out before the trial and make you too afraid to testify or something." Eli told me.

"He's already in my head." I said standing up.

"Clare where are you going?" Jake asked.

"To the locker room." I replied.

"You can't go back to the locker room." Maya says.

"Wanna bet?" I responded as I walked away from my friends.

I'd spent so much time at the arena I knew it well and I made my way to the security door between the seats and the locker room area. The security guard saw me and let me in, at this point the entire security team knew me. I walked back to the Ice Hounds locker room and could hear the coach yelling at them down the hall. I walked straight in and up to Dallas with my arms crossed over my chest.

"You are not distracted because of Asher! He's already in my head; he can already get to me no matter what! You can't keep him out of my mind and you can't stop him from trying to intimidate me! You keep me safe and you make me feel better after he scares me, are you three listening?" I asked looking up to Owen, Luke and Cam and they nodded, I looked at all of them. "You get back on that ice and you kill that other team, pretend like they're all Asher, I don't care but go and win!" I demanded then I turned and left the locker room to go back to my seat.

"So how did it go?" Bianca asked.

"I gave them a pep talk of sorts," I said.

"How did you even get in the locker room?" Katie asked.

"I'm here for Ice Hounds practice every weekday and all the games, the whole security staff knows me. The whole staff knows me and I've spent so much time here I know how to get around." I shrug.

"See she is a princess just like Dallas calls her, princess of the Ice Hounds arena." Adam smirked and I giggled.

The second period went much better than the first and they were all much more aggressive. After one of the twins got put in the penalty box for tripping Owen got some ice time. He was on the ice for fifteen minutes and body checked four players from the opposing team; walling one into the plexi-glass just where we were sitting and giving us a smile from behind his hockey mask. At the end of the second period the ice hounds had made a comeback and were ahead by one. By the end of the game they not only won but crushed the other team winning by four points 6 – 2.

Since it was now dinner time we were meeting the team at the pizza parlor for pizza obviously. We split up and drove over, some of us in Bianca's car, some in the minivan, some in Katie's car and some in Luke's car that Becky was driving. The team had reserved a private room and we went down and ordered for us and the team since we had their order. The team conveniently arrived just as the pizza was brought to the tables.

"Coach says you can give all the pep talks you want." Cam says as he comes down and sits by Maya.

"Pretending the other team was all Asher was fun and worked well." Owen smiles.

"Is that why you body checked so many?" I laugh a little.

Owen just gives me a mischievous smile as Luke sits next to Jenna and Dallas next to me, putting his arm around my waist.

"Who knew you could be so forceful and intimidating Clare." Luke comments.

"I was not about to let you lose the game over me." I affirm.

Dallas kisses my cheek and we start eating, talk turns to the play on Friday and the game on Saturday and my birthday next week. We only stay at the pizza parlor for a couple of hours since it's a school night and we all have homework still.

"He called my phone I just know he's going to try something." Dallas says suddenly after the three of us had been silently doing homework in the basement for an hour.

"Mike you need to stop, your letting it consume you." I scold.

He was sitting on the floor below me; I was lying on my side on the sofa propped on one arm to keep the pressure off my back and he looks up at me with an impish smile on his lips.

"You could distract me again." He remarks.

Adam looks over at us from the other end of the sofa. "And that would be my cue to go to bed. Goodnight guys." He says getting up and going upstairs.

When he's upstairs and the basement door closed I lightly smack Dallas in the back of the head.

"I have another chapter to read and you have science homework to finish." I remind him.

"Science is boring and we have free period tomorrow to finish." He shrugs getting up and scooping me up in his arms.

"Mike." I laugh.

"First I'm going to kiss you here," he says laying me on the bed and touching my lips softly. "Then here," he says touching my neck, "and then here," he continues touching just above the neckline of my top and then he takes my top off. "Then here," he says touching my navel, "and then…" his hand hovers above my crotch and I stop him.

"Mike, we have school tomorrow and I…"

This time he stops me by affixing his lips to mine. "And then I'll go back to kissing these luscious lips of yours until we we're ready to sleep." He tells me.

"I like this plan, I love you Mike." I say with a blissful smile.

"I love you Clare." He breaths and bring my lips to his again.

**Update Soon**


	36. Flying

**Ch. 36 Flying**

**(DALLAS)**

I was sitting in the front row of seats in the auditorium waiting for Eli's play to start. Clare was at my side and my arm was around her, on the other side of her was Owen, Drew, Bianca, Luke, Alli, Wes, Katie, Jake, Fiona, Imogen, Cam, Maya and Zig we took up the whole first row. Eli was of course directing, Adam stage manager, Becky assistant director, understudy and chorus, and of course Tris, Dave, Tori, Jenna and Connor were all in the play.

Clare was sort of sitting on her side, her legs bent and curled to her side, and on Owen's lap as she leaned on me. She was sitting this way because it was more comfortable with the healing road rash on her back side. The lights dimmed, music started and the curtain went up. I'm not one that typically likes musicals or Shakespeare but even I had to admit it was pretty cool, Eli and everyone did a good job. Most importantly though, at least in my eyes, is that Clare loved it and as I said before as long as she's happy I'm in heaven.

"The play was great bro," Drew complimented Adam when the younger Torres brother came out from back stage.

"Thanks, there's a cast and crew party at Above the Dot and Eli says you guys are invited and to head over there." Adam told us.

"Then lets go." Owen said.

"Do you guys need any help?" Fiona asked.

"No you guys head over, we'll be over in a bit." Adam said and then went backstage.

The whole group of us walked over to Above the Dot and went in. There was already music going and food set up so we all got something to eat and sat down at tables. It wasn't long before the cast and crew joined us, after more applause and many congratulations and good job and other things like that said all around, Eli and Adam joined us at our table.

"Adam told us the judge approved an order of protection against Asher." Eli comments.

"Yeah," Clare nods taking my hand under the table.

"You don't sound very comforted by it." Bianca says.

"It's only a piece of paper and they have to catch him violating it in order to do anything about it. The only good thing is they extended the order to include Mike, Eli and the rest of you so if he contacts any of us or makes threats to any of us he can be arrested and it's another criminal charge." Clare tells them.

To get Clare's mind off of Asher and the case Adam changes the subject to her birthday party. Audra said we could have it at the house and she starts talking with Adam about decorations, music, food and that sort of thing.

"I need to get up and move a bit, I've been sitting too long the abrasions hurt." Clare says after about an hour.

I stand and offer her my hand and she gets up, we walk around a bit mingling with everyone. Almost everyone asks about Asher or the trial, Clare does remarkably well answering the same questions over and over with a smile. Eventually she grows tired of it though and I take her out to the stairs for some air.

"You know we can go home anytime you want, we don't have to stay." I tell her.

"I know, I'm not tired or anything just had to move, which hurts too but not as much as sitting." Clare assures me after a quick kiss.

"Everyone's coming to the game tomorrow but if we run long Eli and the others will have to leave to make it to the play on time. You'll still be with Drew, Bianca, Maya, Katie, Jake and Alli and of course you can always go down to the locker room and watch from there." I tell her.

"I know," she smiles, "I'm not going to have to give you another pep talk am I?" She questions.

"I don't know the last one worked pretty well maybe you should." I reply and she scowls at me.

"I'm cold lets go back inside." Clare says shivering a little.

I rub her arms to get her warm as we walk back inside; I see Luke, and Owen waving to me from a corner when we get back in.

"I need to talk with Luke and Owen about some team business, you gonna be okay?" I ask her.

She glowers at me a little. "I think I can find my way to the table again."

I smile and kiss her cheek before walking across the room to my teammates. "Hey everything set for tomorrow night?"

"All set, Drew and Bianca will keep her occupied for an hour and we'll help you with the rest." Owen tells me.

"Perfect, everything else is arranged and tomorrow night will be perfect for Clare." I tell them.

**(CLARE)**

I was leaning against the plexi-glass behind the Ice Hounds bench where our seats were. Knowing I'd have to be sitting for an hour or more for each period I opted to stand for now. The scratches and road rash were healing well but it was extremely uncomfortable, smarted and was immensely painful the more they healed, the skin stretching and new skin forming. Drew, Bianca and I were talking about spring break; well they were talking about it I was just hoping I was all healed by then.

When the music started I sat down and waved at the Ice Hounds as they came out, blowing a kiss to Dallas as he skated past. This time they played aggressively from the start, I think they were still pretending the other team was Asher. By the end of the first period they were up by one and when the team skated back into the locker room we got up to get snacks. Adam wouldn't let me get real food though he said we'd be eating after, I only got a soda and a soft pretzel. We sat back down just as the music started again, the Saturday game was even busier than the Friday night game.

The second period wasn't as exciting for our side, the Ice Hounds were still playing very aggressively but now so was the other team and at the end of it they were beating us by two. When the Ice Hounds skated back into the locker room I stood up so I could get some relief from sitting so long. In the third period the Ice Hounds came back for a close win of one point, it was rather exciting and Owen got to score the winning goal. When the game ended Adam, Eli and the others going to the play had to rush out to make it on time. I hugged as many as could and told them to break a leg before they left.

"Clare you're riding with us." Bianca said taking my hand as Drew pushed his way through the crowd and we followed.

We went to Drew's car in the parking lot and got in; Drew started driving toward Little Miss Steaks.

"Oh wait I need to get something from the loft, do you mind Clare? We can call Dallas and let him know." Drew said when we were nearing the restaurant.

"No that's fine, I'll call Dallas now." I shrug and get out my phone.

Dallas is changing or in the shower because he doesn't answer. I leave a message that I'm with Drew and Bianca and we have to swing by the loft and I'll see him soon. Drew drives to the loft and we go up, he tells us to sit on the sofa and he'll be out soon. Bianca and I sit down and Drew walks back to his room. We sit silently for a few minutes and then Bianca starts talking about my birthday after about twenty minutes of not seeing Drew Bianca says she's going to go check on him. Tired of sitting I get up and wander the living room looking at the pictures on the shelves. Most of them are of Fiona and Declan, a few with their parents. There's only one of Drew and his family and then a couple of Drew and Bianca.

"Okay got it, let's go." Drew says coming out of the bedroom with Bianca several minutes later.

We leave the loft and as soon as we're back in Drew's car, my phone rings and it's Dallas.

"Hi Mike did you get my message?" I ask when I answer.

"Yeah I'm still at the arena why don't you have Drew drop you off here." Dallas says.

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit." I say and hang up.

"Drew can you drop me off at the arena? Mike said he's still there and asked if you could drop me there." I request.

"Sure Clare no problem oh I need to get gas first though." Drew says.

I just nod and Drew pulls into the next gas station and gets some gas. Finally we get back to the arena and the only two cars in the parking lot are Audra's car that Dallas borrowed and Luke's.

"I don't see Mike but his car is still here." I say when Drew pulls up by the player's door.

"We'll help you find him." Bianca says.

I open my door and get out of the car just as Luke comes out of the player's entrance.

"Hey Clare Dallas sent me out to get you." Luke says.

"Okay I guess I'll see you guys later then." I say to Drew and Bianca and they wave as I close my door.

I go to Luke, waving to Drew and Bianca one more time before we turn and go inside. There's music playing still but it isn't the typical rowdy upbeat game music. It's slow and sweet and romantic, I also notice that for it being only about an hour after the game the arena is curiously empty there isn't even cleaning staff.

"Luke what's going on? Where's Mike?" I question as we walk down towards the locker room in the eerily quiet arena.

"Waiting for you right through there." Luke says pointing at the entrance to the ice. I look at Luke and back to the shadowed entrance; he must have sensed my apprehension because he put a hand on my shoulder and urged me forward gently. "Asher's not here I promise no one else is here just us and Dallas and I'm about to leave. Go on he's waiting for you." Luke says.

I still don't know what's going on, they obviously planned something. I'm slightly nervous but Dallas and Luke would never do anything to hurt me and I have a feeling Drew and Bianca were in on this as well and probably a few others. I leave Luke's side and walk to the dark archway leading to the ice as I get closer I can see some of the lights are on over the ice but not all of them less than half, only enough to see and none of the lights are on over the seats. I see Dallas now; he's dressed in street clothes but has his skates back on. He's mostly in the darkness under the archway but I can see he's smiling.

"Mike what's going on?" I question as I approach him.

"We're having dinner Princess." Mike says.

"We're what?" I ask thinking I heard him wrong.

"Well first," he says as I reach him and he picks me up, "we're going to skate a bit because I know how much you like this part."

I put my arms around his neck and we fly out around the ice, I notice the LED board above the ice is going and just flashing **Mike Dallas loves Clare Edwards **over and over again. In the very center of the ice is an Ice Hound's blanket like they sell at the gift shop. That's not the best part, the best part is there are candles set up, floating votives in Ice Hounds cups around the blanket and a picnic dinner from my favorite Italian restaurant.

"You guys have been very busy this took a lot of time and planning. How did you get private use of the arena and what about the camera's and the cleaning staff?" I ask.

"The security cameras are off the head of security showed me himself and the cleaning staff won't be in for four hours. The arena is ours for the next few hours, now how about I take you around the ice once at top speed and then we'll eat." Dallas suggests.

"That sounds great." I smile.

Dallas quickly picks up speed and within a minute we're more than flying across the ice. Dallas is going so fast I'm sort of giggling and screaming at the same time like when you're on a roller coaster. He skids to a halt after going around twice, skimming the ice with his blades and making snow as he scrapes the ice. He smiles and affixes his lips to mine kissing me with much fervor before going to the blanket and setting me down.

"We should get you some skates, as captain I have a set of keys to the arena, we could come and skate just the two of us." Dallas says sitting down next to me as we begin eating.

"I like that idea, I haven't skated in years but I'll probably still prefer to be in your arms as you skate." I tell him as I take a bite of my manicotti.

"I'll always prefer that too." Dallas smiles and we share a quick kiss.

We eat in silence for a bit, just watching each other and eating sort of slowly. Normally sitting too long gets uncomfortable for me but sitting on the ice is different, even through the blanket the ice is cooling and calming on my abrasions. When we're done with dinner I lay on my back and Dallas moves some stuff to lie down next to me. I watch the LED board flash our names and giggle a little.

"What?" Dallas asks.

"I can't believe the coach and owner and everyone let you do this. Take over the whole arena, put our names on the display, have a picnic on the ice." I reply.

"I'm captain of a team that hasn't lost a game yet. Anyway the coach and owner and the whole staff likes you and feels bad about everything that you've had to go through with Asher. They were more than willing to give me use of the arena for a few hours." Dallas tells me taking my hand and interlacing out fingers.

I sit up and take off my jacket, lying back on the ice. "The cold feels good on my back." I explain.

He props himself up on his elbow to look at me smiling and brings his lips to mine. I put my free hand at the back of his neck and deepen the kiss.

"You want to go around the ice some more before we have dessert?" Dallas asks.

I bite my lip and smile and he helps me up, he stands on the ice and the picks me up. He starts off fast and I'm already giggling, my adrenaline rushing as the wind whips through my hair. I'm holding onto him tightly although I know he won't drop me. The feeling of zooming around the ice in his arms is indescribable, thrilling and scary and amazing all at once. We go around as fast as he can several times, he zigzags and zooms and then skids to a stop near the blanket again.

He sets me down, I sit down and he sits next to me and takes off his skates then reaches into the picnic basket and produces a huge slice of chocolate cake and a thermos of hot chocolate. Dallas hands me a fork but then feeds me a bite, I smile and put my lips on the fork eating the bit of cake. Be it the whole evening, the adrenaline rush of flying around the ice, the wonderful food, the fact that my scratches aren't hurting when I sit on the ice or just being with Dallas but I'm relaxed and happy and finding that I want to touch Dallas, that I want him to touch me not just hold me but touch me. We finish eating fairly quickly, not too quickly however and we keep feeding each other cake.

When we finish Dallas puts the stuff back in the picnic basket and moves it aside, we lay back on the blanket on our backs and he puts his arm out for me to use as a pillow. For a while we just lie there, his other hand is holding mine. Then he moves onto his side and conducts his lips to mine, his tongue stealing along my lower lip until I part my lips and allow it in. His tongue explores my mouth, he let's go of my hand and uses it to unbutton my blouse. When my blouse is open he clasps my breasts over my bra and my breathing hitches. He massages a little then moves his hand under the bra, pushing it up and out of the way putting his mouth over one nipple and sucking lightly. I moan and bite my lip, heaving a breath as he moves to the other nipple and toys with that one getting the nipple hard. He takes his head up and looks at me with a soft smile before kissing me gently.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"You're positive the camera's are off?" I question.

"Absolutely positive I told you I saw it myself. I meant are you okay? You're seeing and feeling me and not Asher, you're not scared or nervous or anything?" Dallas asks.

"I'm only seeing and feeling you, I'm not scared maybe a little nervous but I'm always a little nervous like this." I tell him.

"If I go too far or too fast you tell me to stop and I will." He reminds me.

"I know." I smile.

"Good now how about we get that top and bra off you." Dallas grins mischievously.

I bite my lip as he takes his arm from under my head, pulls me up a little; he slides off my top and pulls my bra over my head. Now he's more dressed than me and I just won't have that so I start taking off his dress shirt unbuttoning the first few buttons before pulling it over his head. Then I claw at his undershirt and get that off so I can admire his sculpted chest. He strides over my hips, his hands exploring my curves and finding my breasts again and massaging gently, pinching my nipples lightly. I moan with a shuddering breath and my hands automatically go to his shoulders, gripping tightly. He begins lingering open mouth kisses down my torso until he comes to my jeans and he nips near my navel lightly. He somehow gets my jeans undone without me even realizing and then begins gently sliding them off my legs, pausing to take off my shoes.

"You have to be as naked as me." I remark.

"Yes Princess." He smiles.

Rather than simply taking off his jeans he takes off the rest of his clothing and lays back on the blanket entirely nude. He moves on top of me supporting his weight off of me with his arms and moves down my body pulling my panties down with his teeth to my knees and I giggle. He sits up and pulls my panties down my legs the rest of the way. Then spreads my legs getting between them and without warning his tongue slithers inside of me I catch a gasp in my throat and bite my lip as I moan. I grip the blanket and am very glad the only thing on it right now is us. My back arches as his tongue paints my insides and awakens my nerve endings.

The ice feels great against my back, keeping the road rash from really hurting and going sort of numb and therefore all I feel is the pleasures of his tongue. It's in an interesting contrast the heat inside of me conflicting with the freezing ice coming through the blanket to my back. Dallas was holding my hips with both hands but now one hand goes to my clit and rubs in gentle circles. I moan louder, my back arching up a little more, my body trembling, I'm gripping the blanket so tightly my knuckles are aching just slightly. His tongue is as far as it can go, twisting and tickling and exploring me so deftly and I want more.

"Mike," I exhale and he stops and looks up at me.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asks kissing my belly lightly.

"No," I shake my head biting my lip briefly. "I want more, I think I'm ready." I tell him.

He slides up next to me and locks onto my eyes. "You think or you are? I didn't bring you here to have sex." Dallas says.

I smile, reaching up to kiss him briefly tasting myself on his lips. "I know that Mike and I'm ready. Erase Asher completely, take him away, I'm not sore down there any longer and I need to feel you, more of you. I know you love me, I know you will be gentle and caring and loving and everything Asher wasn't. I'm ready." I tell him.

Dallas smiles kissing me again and his eyes glaze over with lust. He sits up reaching over to his jeans and pulling a condom out.

"I was a boy scout," he smiles, "I'm always prepared."

"I'm not even going to ask how long you've been caring that around in your wallet." I laugh a little.

"I always have one in my wallet, like I said I'm always prepared. I wasn't expecting you to have sex with me Princess; I keep them in my wallet in case me or one of the guys needs one but didn't carry it around waiting for you to be ready. Well I mean I was in a way but..." He starts to explain and I cut him off.

"Stop talking and put the condom on and tell me you love me." I demand.

"I love you Princess. I am in love with you Princess, I live to serve you Princess." Dallas says before tearing open the wrapper and putting the condom on. He gets in position and looks up at me again. "Are you sure?" He asks me once more.

I bite my lip and nod, I can't quite find the words and as much as I want him I'm beyond scared. I know Dallas loves me and he won't hurt me but sex was scary to me even before the rape. I'm trying not show it though, I don't want Dallas to stop and if I seem afraid he will. I focus on the burning desire I have for him, a conflagration in my loins to feel him. It's almost an empty feeling that I know only he can fill. He enters me slowly, gently pushing in just the tip of his head at first. He waits a second watching me, allowing my body to adjust, when his head is all the way in I whimper and moan at the same time. Even with only the head in it's painful, not like his tongue and I grip his shoulders tightly sucking in a sharp breath.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yeah it hurts a little that's all." I tell him.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asks.

Inside I'm waging a war, I want him to stop and I don't. I want him to continue, to feel him, to make love and in a sense erase the rape. I want to make love to the man I love and know the rapture of being cared for and share this most intimate of things with my boyfriend. At the same time I'm quivering in fear and want him to stop, I want to curl into a fetal position and cry. The rape, the whole thing rushing back to me in waves and rushes of emotions and memory flashes, my mind beginning to slip again as my body craves to feel Dallas. Somehow in all of this I manage to shake my head to tell him I want him to continue and Dallas pushes in a little farther.

He goes slow, being as gentle as possible and I know it must be torture for him. His lips find mine and his kiss relaxes me a little. I do my best to stay in the moment and not go back to the rape, to concentrate on Dallas and keep my eyes open to watch his. When I whimper into the kiss he begins to pull out just as slowly. There's more pain than I was anticipating not as much as the rape but the pain still significant. He moves slowly, painstakingly slowly and he continues kissing me and locking his eyes with mine, he doesn't even enter me all the way. He continues this way for many minutes and eventually the pain begins to subside, not dissipating completely but ebbing away until the pleasure over takes it.

I relax a little, moaning again and kissing back with more fervor. Even with the pain mostly gone and overtaken by pleasure he still doesn't push in all the way he's being cautious but it's appreciated. He does start thrusting a little faster now though, I'm caught in a tangle of pain and pleasure, the pleasure typically overtakes the pain but if Dallas moves a certain way I'm hit with a wave of pain and it's distracting. Not just distracting but brings with it emotions and flashes of memories from that horrid night in the alley. I tighten my arms and deepen the kiss as my hips being moving a little as if they have a mind of their own. My body seems to be searching for the right movements and positions to find as much euphoric salacious pleasure as possible, my body, my insides feel ready to explode in orgasmic elation. Meanwhile my mind feels ready to crack; it's fracturing between the pleasured, rapturous euphoria of coming to climax and the pain, terrifying emotions and horrible memories the pain the whole experience is bringing up inside me.

Suddenly there's this rush, this tidal wave of immense exotic carnal bliss and no more pain. I'm so very close, I feel my insides tense just as Dallas tenses as well his kiss picks up fervor and passion and we both reach orgasm together breaking apart as we simultaneously scream each other's names. He slows down and pulls out of me, I whimper and shudder, curling on my side as I tremble. I hear Dallas taking off the condom, now that I'm off the ice my back is burning, smarting like never before and I roll to my back on the blanket so it will go numb once more. My orgasm slowly dissipates, my body continuing to quiver and quake a bit. As the pleasure wanes, the pain comes back in tenfold washing over me in a tempest of fear and bad memories as much as I don't want it to. I want to think only of this moment, of now with Dallas of what we just shared but I can't stop it. I bite my lip and swallow hard to keep from crying just as Dallas lies down next to me and caresses my belly.

"Are you okay Princess?" He asks.

I take a shuddering breath and nod, doing everything to keep from crying. I don't want him to think it's him. To think it's something he did because he was nothing but wonderful and I manage to nod.

"I love you Clare." He whispers against my neck.

"I love you Mike." I whisper back.

**Update soon from right abouts here and possibly in Dallas' POV**


	37. Happy Birthday Princess

**Ch. 37 Happy Birthday Princess**

**(DALLAS)**

We lie on the ice for a while longer, I'm enjoying the feel of her in my arms and the sensations that I can still feel from making love to her. When the ice starts to make my back go numb I sit up and look at the clock on my phone. We have a just under an hour before the cleaning crew gets here and I need to clean up our mess. I look back to tell her as much but stop when I see her. She's biting her lip, looking somewhere between sad and scared and definitely lost in her head. Not exactly what you want to see on a girls face after she gives you her virginity.

Clare's not my first obviously and I have taken the virginities of two other girls; to be honest I don't remember much about the look on their faces after. The first was at a party, It was pretty dark and I left the room right after, yeah I know I was a jerk and I'll probably never admit that to Clare. The second was on a vacation, I remember the girl being in pain some but she was smiling. I liked the girls but that was it, I was more concerned with myself than them, the difference between then and now aside from the fact that I've grown and I'm not a total jerk anymore is I'm in love.

I care about Clare and I don't ever want her to be in pain of any kind. Thinking that I may have caused her any of that pain stabs at me. I know what she went through with Asher, what that bastard did to her and how he violated her and I'm sure that has something to do with her demeanor right now. Still I'm afraid I might have pushed her, done more than she was ready for despite the fact that she told me she was ready. I lie down on my side next to her, brushing a curl behind her ear and she looks at me.

"Talk me Princess; tell me honestly are you alright? Did we do too much? Did I go to fast? Did you…" she holds her finger to my lips and I stop.

"I'm alright Mike it's not you or anything you did. It just brought back the memories that's all." She puts her hand on my shoulder and uses me to pull herself up. "There was a lot of pain still, more than I was expecting but it felt amazing too. It was a lot of…everything I guess, I'm not sure I can describe it well and we should start cleaning up I'm sure the cleaning crew will be in soon." She tells me.

"You sure?" I question.

She smiles just slightly, leans forward and kisses me softly. "I love you Mike and I loved making love to you." She assures me.

She moves grabbing her clothes and starts to dress, I stand and start dressing as well then put my skates back on. Then I pick Clare up in my arms and go skating around the rink at top speed one more time before skating to the edge of the ice under the archway to the locker rooms and setting her down.

"You stay here Princess, I'll clean up." I tell her cupping her chin and uniting our lips for an impassioned kiss.

She smiles at me and I turn skating back to our picnic. It takes me about twenty minutes and two trips to and from the locker room and trash cans before I have everything cleaned up. I skate back to Clare and she follows me to the locker room, I go in and sit on the bench to take off my skates and put on my shoes.

"Ooh it smells like testosterone in here." Clare states lingering in the doorway.

"You didn't mind it the other day when you came in to give us our pep talk." I laugh.

"I was angry at you all for being distracted, I didn't smell it then." She tells me.

I laugh and get my shoes on, taking the blanket, cups, picnic basket and left over food we start walking out but I notice that Clare's walking slow and carefully.

"You really hurt don't you?" I ask.

"I'm fine." She says but I know she's lying.

I stop, kneeling down and putting the cups inside the picnic basket and the blanket on top of it. Then I hand it to Clare, she takes it and I scoop her up in my arms, carrying her all the way to the car.

"Here put the stuff in the car, I have to go lock up." I tell Clare, she gives me a nervous look. "Just get in, put the stuff in the backseat and lock the doors, I'll be back in a minute." I promise her giving her a soft and loving kiss.

She nods unlocking the door, and I turn walking back to the arena doors. I look back to see she's in the car now and I lock the players entrance doors. When she sees me at the driver's side door she unlocks it so I can get in. I drive us home and we go in through the basement.

"You want to watch a movie?" I ask.

"No I'm pretty tired I'm going to get ready for bed." She replies

"Okay," I say slowly knowing something's bothering her. "I'm gonna take this stuff upstairs I'll be back in a minute." I tell her.

She bites her lip, nods and starts heading for the washroom, I turn and start going up the stairs when she calls to me.

"Mike," she calls and I look back at her, "don't be too long." She says.

"I'll be right back Princess," I assure her and go upstairs.

I go up to the kitchen and start putting away the stuff from the picnic basket when Adam comes downstairs.

"Hey how was the date?" Adam asks me.

"Great, the date went really well." I tell him.

"Where's Clare?" Adam questions.

"She's getting ready for bed; I told her I'd be right back down." I reply.

"Get down to Clare I'll finish emptying the picnic basket." Adam says.

"Thanks bro," I smile patting Adam on the back and going down to the basement, closing the door behind me.

Clare's already in bed so I brush my teeth real quick and then undress and change into clean boxers. I switch off the light at the bottom of the stairs and go to the bed, sliding in next to Clare. She's laying on her side as usual so she doesn't hurt her back but normally she's facing me and this time she has her back to me. I put my arms around her and kiss her neck; I'm worried that she's not telling me everything. That we went too far too fast and she wasn't ready, that it affected her more than she's letting on and she's not telling me. My suspicion appears to be confirmed when I think I hear her sniffle a little.

"Princess what's wrong? Talk to me please." I request.

"I'm fine," she insists.

"No you're not Clare, I can hear you sniffling." I tell her.

She sighs and puts her arms over mine that are holding her and interlaces our fingers, I kiss the back of her neck gingerly.

"Making love to you was wonderful, nothing at all like Asher and it's nothing you did but it brought back all the memories and sensations of that night. I tried not to think about it, I did my best to stay in the moment and just feel you and be with you but it was sort of like being in two places at once. No that's not quite right more like being in one place then ripped away to another. If there was pain at all then I was suddenly taken back to that cold night in the alley on the chilled hard cement with Asher. There was a lot of pain, not nearly as much as the rape but it was significant." She tells me.

I wrap my arms around her a little tighter, and kiss her temple.

"Do you regret it?" I ask her.

Now she turns to me placing her hands on my chest her lips gently touching mine.

"No not at all. I love you and I wish the rape hadn't tainted our first time and I could have stayed in the moment with you." She apologizes.

"I don't care Princess, I do care that you were hurt by Asher. That he put you through that and you were ever subject to that. I wish more than anything that you had never gone through that or that I could go back in time and stop it from happening, walk you home that night so Asher never would've attacked you." I admit to her.

"Mike you couldn't have known, no one could have. I've walked home from the Dot hundreds of times before perfectly safe." She contends.

"But we knew Asher was out there, we knew he was harassing you. We should have been on alert; I should have been more protective. I wanted our first time together to be perfect." I confess.

"It was perfect Mike, it was wonderful and I want to make love again but it's going to take some time for me to be ready again. Everything hurts, not just physically but there's an amalgamation of emotions inside me, good and bad. As much as I loved making love to you and as blissful as it was in a lot of ways…" she pauses biting her lip as if searching for the right word.

"It hasn't been that long since the rape, maybe you weren't ready. I didn't except you to be ready this soon. I have no idea what's normal but I can't imagine most girls are ready to have sex so soon after being raped." I remark.

"I don't think there is a normal, it's different for every rape victim I imagine. After Darcy's rape she went into herself and came out this totally different person, just sort of all together reckless. Once she started remembering the rape she wanted to have sex with her boyfriend, she was almost desperate to. Like she was hoping having sex with Peter would erase the rape and take it away. I get it you know, that need to make the rape vanish, erase the feel of the attacker but nothing can take it away. It will always be there, the memory and the feelings and sensations they're always going to be there nothing can take it away." She tells me.

She stops for a deep breath and I kiss her forehead, I wish I could do something or say something to make her feel better, take the pain away but there just isn't.

"You know I don't think Darcy even knows; about my rape I mean. I didn't tell any of you until a couple days after and I didn't tell my parents Jake did. I think in all the chaos of talking to the police and dealing witj Asher and the impending trial no one thought to tell Darcy. Funny thing is I'm not sure I want Darcy to know, I wouldn't want her to come home or feel like she had to and I wouldn't know what to say to her. She was raped too and I'm sure it sucked but it was nothing like mine. I don't want to compare notes with my older sister on our rapes." She confides in me.

"Is that why you're so resistant to go to the rape support group?" I ask.

"I know I'm not the only girl to ever be raped, my older sister was raped believe me I know the statistics on rape but that doesn't mean I want to talk about it with other victims. We may have all been raped but none of us will have gone through exactly the same thing, it's all going to be different circumstances. I don't want to sit there listening to some other girl tell me about her rape while I compare notes, thinking well at least you were raped in a bed or god at least I didn't have to go through that. I just don't think talking to a bunch of other rape victims is going to make me feel better. Anyway I have you, Adam, Eli, Alli, Drew, Bianca, Owen, Jenna, Jake, my parents and a few others to talk to if I need to." She says.

"Yes you do Princess." I agree and kiss her forehead again.

"Tonight really was wonderful Mike thank you." She breathes against my skin.

"I love you Princess." I say before finding her lips to kiss her softly.

"I love you Mike." She smiles.

She nuzzles into my chest and I feel her breathing become deep and regular after a few minutes and I know she's asleep. I kiss her head and feel her heart beat against my chest and soon fall asleep. I wake up sometime later feeling her thrashing in my arms, she's sort of talking but I can't make out what she's saying. I do know she's having a nightmare and I have a pretty good idea what it's about.

"Princess wake up you're safe." I insist in a soothing voice, brushing some hair from her face and kissing her head.

She gasps and her eyes flutter open, I know because her eyelashes tickle my skin. She makes a sort of choked cry and then her head falls to my chest.

"Having a nightmare about the rape Princess?" I question rubbing the one unscathed section of her back. She replies by nodding her head against my chest. "You're safe, I have you and I'm never leaving you again." I assure her.

"What did I say about promises?" She questions softly so that I almost don't hear her.

"It wasn't a promise it was a statement." I argue. "You want to watch a movie, since I'm guessing you can't sleep now?" I ask.

She nods her head again so I get up and pick her up carrying her to the sofa and setting her down. I turn on the TV and Blu-Ray player and put in a movie, sitting on the sofa and placing her on my lap. We watch through one movie and then most another before she finally falls asleep again. I turn off the TV and stuff, picking her up and moving us to the bed again. Pulling the blanket over us I'm asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.

**(CLARE)  
**

"So it's Friday which means it's your birthday are you excited?" Dallas says as we're getting ready for school.

"I am now, we've been talking about my birthday for two weeks but the party isn't until tomorrow night." I reply.

"I know but today is your birthday, do you want your present now?" He asks.

"What present?" I ask.

"The one from me of course Princess," he replies.

"Okay I'll have my present now then." I say slowly.

He takes my hand and walks me to the sofa sitting me down then he walks to his dresser and pulls out a small box and a card. The box is the size of a ring and as much as I love Dallas I'm not about to get engaged.

"Mike you're not about to propose are you?" I question a little anxiously.

"No Princess," he laughs a little and hands me the box first.

I unwrap the box and open it to find a silver band that has PRINCESS engraved into it capped on each end by a gemstone that looks like a diamond but is probably glass. I don't care one little bit though, I think it's very sweet and I love it!

"I thought you might want something to replace your purity ring." Dallas says as he takes the ring from the box and puts it on my finger. "It's kind of corny but…"

I cut him off with a passionate, loving and grateful kiss. "No it's absolutely wonderful, I love it and I love you Mike." I tell him.

"I love you too Princess, now you can open the card." Dallas says handing me the card.

"Airline tickets?" I question pulling the tickets from the envelope.

"One for you and one for me, the Saturday after school lets out for the summer. You're coming home with me for two weeks. I already discussed it with your parents, Audra and mine. My family can't wait to meet you and your parents are okay with it." Dallas tells me.

I lean forward, putting my hand behind his neck and pulling our lips together for a fevered kiss. It's several minutes before we break apart, if we didn't need to get to school we could've continued. We finish getting ready and eat a quick breakfast and it occurs to me I haven't seen Adam this morning.

"Where's Adam?" I inquire.

"He left while you were in the shower, Eli picked him up I think they're planning something for your birthday and I swear I know nothing about it so don't even ask." Dallas insists.

I grimace at him a little but don't ask; just as we finish breakfast I hear a horn from the driveway.

"That would be Owen, let's go." Dallas says grabbing our backpacks and we leave the house.

"Happy Birthday Clare!" Owen and Tristan say simultaneously from the front seat.

"Thank you," I giggle.

"Here it's from both of us but you have to wear the cheesy crown all day." Tristan informs me handing me a purple gift bag.

On top of the bag is one of those plastic tiaras that has a headband attached so you can wear it and says Birthday Princess with purple fluff on it. I put the crown on and pull some tissue from the bag revealing a black leather jacket with rhinestones along the collar and Ice Hound's Princess on the back red lettering.

"It's great I love it! Thank you both." I smile taking the jacket; I take off my denim one and putting on my new leather one.

When Owen parks at school and we get out of the SUV I hug Tristan and Owen to thank them. We begin walking to the school and we're joined by Alli, Jenna and Dave.

"Happy Birthday Clarebear!" They squeal together and hug me carefully.

"Our birthday gift for you is being delayed until just before spring break when your scratches heal a bit more." Alli tells me.

"We're going for a full spa day, massages mani-pedi's, aromatherapy, facials, the works." Jenna says.

"Sounds fantastic," I smile.

"Sounds girlie," Owen gripes.

"Duh Owen we're girls." Alli retorts.

Dallas puts his arm around my shoulders and we walk in the front doors and to my locker, where we find the other misfits and they have decorated my locker.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They shout together.

I smile and hug both of them, kissing each of them on the cheeks.

"This is from us," Eli says handing me a heavy box.

I open the box to find a first edition of my favorite book. "You guys this is awesome thank you!" I gush and kiss their cheeks again.

I get lot's of Happy Birthday's for the rest of the morning but no more gifts until Drew comes at lunch.

"This is from me and Bianca," Drew tells me handing me a small gift bag.

"I love it thanks you guys," I smile looking at the picture of the entire group of us in the meadow the day we went for a hike.

I hug Drew and Bianca and pass the photo for everyone to see before putting back in the bag for safe keeping.

"I gotta work tonight so I won't be at the game but I got tomorrow night off for your party." Drew tells me when lunch is over and he's getting ready to leave.

"That's okay Drew I'd rather have you at my party anyway." I reply and hug him.

He kisses Bianca and we wave to him as he walks back to his car. I get more Birthday wishes during the afternoon. Right after school our very large group leaves for the arena, we have an hour until game time but we'd rather wait at the arena. We don't even bother with the line going in the side door and finding our seats behind the Ice Hounds bench of course.

"Are you glad the play's over?" I ask Eli and the others that worked on the play as sit in our seats waiting for the Ice Hounds game to start.

"Yes and no, it was a lot of work but it was fun to do." Adam says and the others agree.

"Are you excited about your birthday party tomorrow?" Adam asks.

"I am now, after talking about it for two weeks especially having such a good birthday." I smile.

"I'm looking forward to spring break," Bianca says.

We all start talking about spring break, the seats quickly fill up and soon the music starts and the team skates out. Dallas blows me a kiss of course and I wave to the others. I spend most of the first period standing simply because it's more comfortable. Dallas made sure they announced it was my birthday on the LED display above the ice. Actually it read: **Happy Birthday Ice Hounds Princess! **I would say only we knew that was me but anyone that saw my jacket figured it out and wished me Happy Birthday.

By the end of the first period the Ice Hounds were ahead by 2. As always we got snacks and drinks while waiting for the second period to begin. In the end the Ice Hounds won 4-2 and Dallas scored the winning goal. As soon as the team was out of sight we all got up and started making our way out of the arena. We have to take four cars to Little Miss Steaks there's so many of us. Marisol just waves to us and we start putting tables together, between our group and the team we're going to take up almost the whole restaurant this time.

We sit down and order dessert, Marisol says mine's on the house because it's my birthday. We're almost done eating by the time the team comes in and sits down with us. Their pizza comes to the table and everyone eats and talks, spring break is the most popular subject but my party tomorrow night is also a main topic.

"I'll be over with Jenna and Alli at four to help you guys decorate and the party starts at 6." Bianca tells me.

"I'll be over at four to help decorate too," Eli comments.

"Mom and Dad agreed to stay out until one and then we have to send everyone home and strictly no alcohol but we have lots of food." Adam says.

"I have music covered," Dave adds.

"I've never had so many people work so hard to throw me a birthday party." I remark.

"You deserve it Princess." Dallas smiles and ensnares my lips for gentle kiss that is also full of fervor.

We stay until the restaurant closes of course and Owen takes us and Adam home. I sit on Dallas' lap and Maya sits on Cam's until we drop her off. Owen takes Cam home next and then the three of us, Dallas get's our backpacks and my birthday presents from the back, we go in through the basement and I say goodnight to Adam before he goes up the stairs. He closes the basement door as he leaves and Dallas closes the blinds as I begin changing for bed.

"Did you have a good birthday Princess?" Dallas asks me when we're lying in bed together.

"I had a wonderful birthday, thank you." I reply putting my arms around his neck.

"And it's not even over, you get a whole birthday weekend." He tells me.

"I've never had a birthday celebration last a whole weekend before," I say.

"Well you are a Princess," he replies.

"To you," I respond.

"Not just to me, you have a jacket that proves it." He says.

"I love you Mike, despite everything that happened this has been the best birthday ever." I smile pulling myself up a bit to join our lips.

"I love you too Princess." Dallas smiles.

I smile back, give him a soft kiss and lie my head on his chest, falling asleep quickly.

**Update Soon**


	38. Unwilling Hero

**Ch. 38 Unwilling Hero**

**(CLARE)**

Dallas and I were on the way to my house to have lunch with my family for my birthday, which was technically yesterday but I was so busy yesterday the only one I saw was Jake at school. Dallas parks out front and we get out walking to the front door.

"That's odd the mail box is very full," I comment as we reach the front door.

"Yeah so full there's another box," Dallas remarks pointing to the box on the ground below it full of letters.

"We're here," I call opening the door.

"Hey, Helen and Dad are setting up outside come in." Jake says.

"You know your mailbox is very full." Dallas tells him as we go inside.

"The mailman must have come early; just leave it I'll get them later." Jake says.

"Since when do we get so much mail Jake?" I question as he closes the front door behind us and then something occurs to me. "Is that all for me? Is all of that about this whole thing with Asher?" I inquire.

Jake doesn't answer and looks away, I try and move past him to go to the door and get the mail but Jake grabs my arm and stops me.

"Clare wait don't look, yes most of the mail out there is addressed to you and concerns Asher, the trial and the charges. Mostly in support of you, telling you how brave you are and how rotten Asher is." Jake tells us.

"Then why can't she see them?" Dallas asks.

"Because not all of them are good Mike. Some are bad right, calling me terrible names, accusing me of lying and taking down a good man like Asher. Some probably have threats, threats to hurt me, possibly even death threats." I tell him doing my best to keep my voice steady.

I can feel Dallas tense and his arms come around me pulling me to him and holding me tightly but his voice remains surprisingly calm.

"Is that true Jake? Is she being threatened?" Dallas asks in a steely tone and I can hear how he's suppressing his anger and worry.

"Yes there are a few that are…worrisome. Call Clare all sorts of things, say she's lying and trying to get attention. Yes there are a few that threaten her and yes there a couple that threaten to kill her." Jake tells us.

Dallas lets go of me with one arm and grabs Jake by the shirt. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS BEFORE?!" Dallas screams at him.

"Mike let him go," I insist.

Dallas growls, gives Jake a hard look but lets him go.

"Our parents, Nick, Audra and Omar all thought it would be better if we kept it from you. We were going to show you all the good ones and most of them are good. Your mom was putting them all together with good articles she was saving them for closer to trial when she knew you'd be worried about it." Jake informs us.

I open my mouth to talk and Dallas looks like he's going to yell again but before we can my mom comes in and we all look at her.

"Oh good you're here come on outside," Mom smiles.

The topic is dropped as we follow Mom outside, the picnic table is set up and Glen is barbequing garlic chicken on the grill. We sit down and Dallas puts his arm around me.

"Happy Birthday Sweetie this is from Darcy, she sent it from Africa." Mom tells me handing me a parcel.

"Does Darcy know?" I ask as I begin opening it. "About the rape and the trial and all of that, does Darcy know?"

"No we haven't told her we didn't know if you wanted us too." Mom tells me.

"No I'd rather she didn't know," I tell them but I don't explain why.

After Darcy's gift, a very beautiful bracelet I open the one from my parents and Jake and one from my Dad. We eat lunch and make small talk but all I can think about is all those letters.

"How could you not tell me?" I question when I'm done eating.

Everything stops and they all look at me.

"The mailman came early and they saw all the mail." Jake explains.

"Sweetheart we were going to tell you but we didn't want to worry you. Most of the letters are very good Clare, most of them talk about how brave you are and I have all those." Mom replies.

"You're not the only one who's gotten them either Clare, all the other girls that came forward got them too. You came forward first and you're the face, the one person they always show on the news so you get more." Glen says.

"Are the other girls getting death threats too?" Dallas asks through clenched teeth.

"Yes all the girls have received threats and they all have police protection including Clare." Glen tells us.

"I've never seen an officer around me." I reply.

"The one posted to you stays in civilian clothes and keeps a distance. With Dallas me and the rest of our friends guarding you you're more protected than any of the other girls." Jake tells me.

"I want to see them," I state.

"Of course baby I put all the best ones in some binders and we have boxes of more. I'll just…" Mom is saying when I cut her off.

"No I want to see the other ones." I tell her.

"Clare I don't think you…"

I interrupt again. "I need to see them I need to know, you can't hide it from me anymore." I assert in a determined tone.

There's a minute of silence and then Mom gets up from the table. "Okay come upstairs I have them all in the office." Mom says.

Dallas and I get up from the table and follow Mom upstairs to the office. There's a dozen boxes of letters against one wall and one pretty big one against the other BAD is written in bold lettering across the box. I also see a large binder open on Mom's desk with open letters in it.

"Look Baby, most of them are like this one, just read it and see that other people do support you." Mom insists handing me a folded piece of paper from her desk.

I open the letter and Dallas tightens his hold on me as I start reading. The letter is from a fifteen year old girl that was sexually molested by her step father and never told anyone. She tells me I'm brave for coming forward against someone as well known as Asher Shostak and she wishes she had been brave enough to come forward and tell someone about her step father. Instead she ran away to live with her father and lied about why. She ends the letter by calling me a hero, my mom is smiling like this is a good thing and it only makes me feel worse.

"This is what 95% of the letter say, stuff like this. That you're brave, that you're a hero to these girls." Mom says.

"Could you leave us for a while Mom?" I ask her.

"Sure Sweetheart, we'll be downstairs cleaning up." Mom says and leaves the room closing the door behind her.

"Maybe your mom is right, maybe you should look at more of the good ones." Dallas says going to one of the boxes and pulling out a letter.

He hands it to me and I read it, this one is similar to the last one. It's from an older woman though and she says nothing about ever being assaulted but she calls me brave and a hero. I hand it back to Dallas and he pulls out another one and hands it to me, I have to smirk a little when I read this one.

"Dear Clare, I think Asher is a terrible person and he should die." I read aloud to Dallas.

"See people agree with you," Dallas smiles.

"Wait I'm not done yet," I tell him and continue reading. "You are not only very brave for coming forward I also think you are very pretty. I would like to take you out my number is…"

Dallas rips the paper from my hands and looks at it; his face gets hard, protective and jealous. "Some creep is asking you out after being assaulted! And you are taken. If I ever see this guy I'm going to kill him!" Dallas states.

"Mike," I admonish.

"Are there more of these?" Dallas inquires.

"Mike can we not worry about the delusional boys that think I'll go out with them if they write to me and focus on the people that might want to kill me?" I request.

"You're right I'm sorry Princess." Dallas smiles and puts his arm around me again.

"Are you sure you want to see them?" He asks.

"I have to know Mike." I assert.

Sitting by the box marked bad I pull out a letter and open it. The letter starts off by calling me a lying bitch and gets worse from there. Dallas takes one look at it and punches the wall. After scanning the letter quickly I put it down and pick up another one. This one isn't any better, the first line calls me a whore and says I deserve to die along with all the other sluts that are spreading lies about Asher and accuses us of just trying to extort money from him. When a tear slips down my cheek Dallas wipes it away and takes the letter from my hands.

"Lets get you home; people will be over soon to start setting up for the party." Dallas says helping me up and embracing me tightly.

He kisses me gently, his lips lovingly embracing mine. When he pulls his lips from me I nod. He maneuvers so he still has one arm around me and we leave the office, going back downstairs.

"Thanks for lunch and my presents I love them all but we're going home now. We have to start setting up for the party soon." I say.

"Sure of course Sweetheart, your presents are in here. We'll see you tomorrow after church." Mom replies handing me a tote.

"Thanks for lunch Mrs. Martin we'll see you guys tomorrow and we'll see you at the party tonight Jake." Dallas says.

"Yeah see you guys tonight," Jake responds.

Dallas and I start walking to the door and I stop and look back at my family.

"We're taking the letters, the ones that came today." I announce.

They all just blink at me, finally Jake goes to the kitchen and hands Dallas two totes of mail.

"These are all the ones from this morning," Jake tells us.

"Thanks, no more hiding them. We'll see you guys later." I say and then Dallas and I leave the house.

We put my presents and the mail in the backseat and get in the car. We buckle and Dallas starts driving, I reach into the back and pull out a letter. This one has no return address; I open the envelope and pull out the letter. This one is from another girl; she's seventeen just like me. The whole first paragraph is her telling me how much she admires me and how brave she thinks I am and how strong. How she never would have had the strength to bring charges against anyone let alone someone as well known and connected as Asher Shostak. She ends the letter by calling me a hero, I feel a twinge, an emotion I can't explain and I put the letter back in the bag.

I take a deep breath, pull out another letter and open it. This one is from a girl too, I know because the name at the bottom is a girl's name. She doesn't say how old she is or anything else about her though. The letter is two whole pages about how much she admires me and the other girls for telling our stories. How we're heroes for fighting back and taking him to court and she hopes Asher fries. How she's thinking about us and rooting for us. We arrive home but I don't move from the car. Dallas gets out and comes around opening my door and still I don't move.

"Come Princess let's go inside, we can rest for a while before the others get here." Dallas insists unbuckling my seat belt and pulling me from the car.

He gets all the bags from the back and we go in through the basement. I go straight to the bed and sit down on the floor at the foot. Dallas sits down next to me, setting down the bags and putting his arm around me. I lean on him and he kisses my head. I hear footsteps on the basement steps and I know it's Adam.

"Hey I thought I heard you guys come in. How was…what's wrong?" Adam questions when he sees us.

"She's been getting letters; I guess all the girls have good and bad. Most of them are good and supportive, talking about how they're brave and stuff. But some of them are threatening, calling her a liar and a few other things. A few of them are even death threats." Dallas informs Adam; his tone going from soft to hard and protective to worried.

"People are threatening her, threatening to kill her for what? Taking a pedophile to court?" Adam questions taking my hand.

"Apparently she's been getting them for weeks, since this whole thing first went public. Her parents, Nick and your parents have been hiding them from us. There were a dozen boxes at her house." Dallas tells him as I reach over and pull out another letter.

"Why?" Adam queries as I open the letter and begin reading.

"I guess they were trying to protect her, protect all of us. They didn't want any of us to see the bad ones, to know she was being threatened. They were going to show her the good ones when we got closer to trial to give her a boost or whatever." Dallas says.

"So they were just going to hide them forever? Never le…"

Adam is interrupted by me bursting into tears, I bring my knees to my chest, wrap my arms around my legs and lay my head on my knees as salt water falls from my eyes in waterfalls. Dallas tightens his hold on me and brushes some hair from my face while Adam puts a hand on my arm.

"Princess they aren't going to get anywhere near you." Dallas assures me, taking the letter from my hand. "Wait this letter is one of the good ones, why are you crying?" Dallas inquires.

"Are you kidding it's terrible! That girl is eleven years old, she was assaulted by a camp counselor and she never told anyone and she's calling me her hero. She goes on and on about how brave I am! How much she admires me for coming forward and having the courage to stop him." I bemoan.

"She's right Clare wh…" Dallas tries but I cut him off.

"No she's not! I'm not brave; I'm not a hero I didn't want to come forward at all! Don't you remember? I was ready to run away without even telling you guys. You locked me in a room and forced me to tell you. I didn't want to go to the police at all, I fought it, I was resistant the whole way. I was going to run away and go on with my life, spending the rest of it trying to forget any of this ever happened! I'm not courageous at all but now I have little girls calling me a hero!? I didn't do anything but survive and I barely did that!" I rant through my tears.

Both boys are silent, comforting me with touch but neither has any words. Then we hear a car out front and four doors closing.

"That's probably Eli, Bianca, Alli and Jenna," Adam says quietly.

"I don't want them to see me like this, hide the letters and don't say anything I don't want to ruin my party. Can I lie down in your room Adam?" I request trying to wipe away my tears but it's not working.

"Yeah of course," Adam nods as we all stand up.

"I'll be up in a minute Princess," Dallas tells me giving me a quick kiss.

I nod and then run for the stairs seeing Eli and the girls coming for the doors.

**(DALLAS)**

Clare goes upstairs to Adam's room and I take all the tote bags, hiding them in my closet just as the other girls and Eli come through the door.

"Okay party decorating committee is here. Where's Clare?" Alli asks.

"She's laying down upstairs; she's just tired after lunch with her family." I lie.

Clare doesn't want us to say anything so we don't, she is right it would ruin her party.

"Well let her rest then, we'll have the place all decorated by the time she comes down. Dave will be over soon with music and to help." Alli says.

"I'm going to check on Clare, call if you need me." I tell them.

"Yeah no problem, Owen said he and Tristan would be over around 4:30 to help set up so we should be fine." Adam tells me.

I go upstairs and open Adam's bedroom door. Clare is lying on her side on his bed, she's crying still but not as hard as she was. She doesn't look at me when I come in but she moves over on the bed so I can lay down with her. I lie down in front of her on my side and wrap her in my arms, kissing her forehead.

"They're setting up downstairs, they'll do it all, you don't have to worry about a thing." I assure her.

"I don't think I can do this Mike, what happens if we lose, what will all those people calling me a hero think then? What about the men that are all threatening me? The ones that want to kill me?" She questions.

"They won't get anywhere near you, ever! Me and the others won't allow it. Don't worry about it now, enjoy your birthday party." I assert holding her a little tighter but careful not to touch her abrasions.

"How can I not worry about it? I know they're out there now, people that want to kill me and people that think I'm some kind of hero!" She bemoans.

I don't know what to say, how to make her feel better. I've had little kids look up to me for playing hockey but it's not the same thing.

"Owen still has Emily's number, maybe you should talk to her tomorrow. She'll understand, she's getting letters too and she would know how to get in touch with the other girls." I suggest.

"Yeah that's a good idea, can you get the number from him tonight?" She asks.

"Of course Princess," I say kissing her gently. "Now we've got about two hours to cheer you up so you don't look so sad at your party, what would like to do? How can I make it better?" I ask her.

"Just hold me and tell me you love me." She replies.

"I love you Princess, more than anything." I tell her kissing her nose.

She just lays there in my embrace, her head against my chest for almost two hours. Just before people are due to arrive we get up, she goes into Adam's washroom to splash water on her face and hide the fact that she was ever crying. Even from here I can hear Owen's voice over the music Dave has going. We go downstairs hand in hand and just before we become visible she forces a smile on her face.

"Hey guys, it looks amazing down here thanks everyone." Clare smiles and begins hugging everyone.

The basement has been thoroughly decorated in purple and gold, royal colors for my princess. There's streamers, balloons and a banner that says Happy Birthday Princess! They even blew up pictures of Clare and her friends, a few of her and me and her family putting them on the walls. They put up colored lights and a disco ball. Audra even ordered a cake shaped like a castle with a little Princess Clare in the tower. I look at Clare and she has a genuinely blissful smile on her face so I relax but only a little. I know I told her not to worry but ever since I knew there were people out there threatening her, wanting to kill her, people besides Asher, I've been very worried.

"I'm just going to change before more people get here; I'll be out in a minute." Clare tells us after she's hugged everyone.

She goes to the closet and gets out some clothes then goes into the washroom.

"Hey you okay? You look awfully tired; I thought you two were lying down." Owen remarks putting his hand on my shoulder.

"We were I need to speak to you guys later but not now." I tell him.

"Yeah sure," Owen responds with a furrowed brow.

We finish getting out the food and Clare comes out of the washroom in a black halter dress that goes to her knee, she looks gorgeous. The girls start complimenting her dress; she goes to the closet and pulls out some heels putting them on. Just as she has her shoes on guests start to arrive. Before long the basement is full, the entire team plus everyone who was already there to decorate and set up, Drew, Connor, Wes, Jake, Katie, Maya, Tori, Zig, Fiona, Imogen, even Marisol and Mo. Clare is happily chatting with some of her friends so I get Adam's attention.

"Grab Eli, Drew and Bianca and go outside." I command and Adam nods.

I grab Owen, Luke and Cam and take them outside; the party is spilling out to the porch so no one pays much attention when we go out. I direct them all to a far corner of the yard so no one can hear us.

"Clare's been getting letters, lots of them since this whole thing went public. Most of them are good; well I think they're good. They talk about her being a hero and being brave for coming forward and stuff like that. There was even one from a guy that asked her out," I tell them through clenched teeth. "Then there's some that threaten her and call her things and some that threaten to kill her." I inform everyone but Adam who already knows.

"Threatening to kill her?" Eli asks looking scared and protective.

"People want to hurt her?" Owen questions in disbelief and a hard tone.

"Her parents knew, so did Jake, Nick, Audra and Omar and they weren't going to tell her, tell any of us. They were just going to show her the good ones when we got closer to trial. She's upset about it obviously, they say she has police protection and I know we've all been vigilant in protecting her but given this new knowledge that other people besides Asher want to kill her now we need to be even more protective. Nothing can happen to her, no one can get near her." I assert in a determined voice.

"Yeah of course," Drew nods.

"We'll keep her safe Dallas; we won't let anyone get near her." Owen assures me.

"She didn't want me to tell you guys tonight but I had to. She's even upset about the good letters; she doesn't feel brave or like a hero. I told her she should talk to Emily, you still have her number right?" I ask Owen.

"Yeah, I'll text it to you." Owen nods.

We all stand there quietly for a minute until we hear Alli yell that Clare is cutting the cake and we go in. Clare is standing at the table with her cake, I go up to her and put my arm around her.

"There you are where were you?" She asks in a low voice.

"Just went outside for some air Princess," I tell her.

She cuts into her cake and takes a slice, I take one and everyone else starts serving themselves. We sit on the sofa soon to be joined by the other two misfits, Alli, Jenna, Bianca and Drew. Clare is happy for the whole party, smiling the whole time, either she's managed to put on a wonderful mask to fool everyone else or she's pushed the letters to the back of her mind. I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much so long as she's happy, I'm happy. She does seem to have a good time, talking, dancing even laughing and she either doesn't mind or doesn't notice that everyone I talked to outside is now sort of hovering around her. Around midnight people begin going home, by one everyone but the Torres brothers, Bianca and Eli have gone.

"Did you enjoy your party Princess?" I ask.

"Yes very much it was wonderful," she says and then yawns a little.

"We can clean up in the morning you all should get to bed." I tell them.

"We're all spending the night," Bianca says.

"That way we'll be here to help clean up in the morning. Alli and Jenna will come back in the morning to help too." Eli tells us.

"We should at least get the food upstairs," Adam says and Clare yawns again.

"You get ready for bed Princess we'll get all the food away." I instruct.

"Thanks for everything guys I'll see you in the morning." Clare tells them.

She takes one of my dress shirts and goes into the washroom, I hear her lock the door and I check the exterior door to make sure it's locked. We start getting the food upstairs and put away but we make sure one of us is always downstairs with Clare. When we're done I say goodnight to the others and go back to the basement locking the interior door behind me. When I get down Clare is already asleep in bed, I get ready for bed as fast as I can and get in with her wrapping her in my arms. She sighs contentedly and puts her head on my chest, I kiss her head.

"I love you Clare Edwards and I swear to you no one will ever hurt you again, I won't allow it." I whisper in her ear, kiss her temple and fall asleep with her in my arms.

**Update Soon**

**If you read Friends With Benefits, Reese Return or I Was At This Party you know this so you can skip this announcement. From the 26th to the 30th I have family visiting and may not be able to update everyday. I will do my best to get up at least a short chapter each day but I may not have the time, I will however still update in order.**


	39. The End

**So this is the last chapter guys, sorry but considering I thought it was only going to have 2 or 3 chapters I'd say 39 is pretty good.**

**Thank you so much to everyone that read, reviewed, favorited and/or followed.**

**Ch. 39 The End**

**(CLARE)**

"Here's another one calling you a hero that goes in the good box." Owen says, dropping the letter in the box.

"I still don't consider those good necessarily," I grimace a little, reaching into the pile and pulling out another letter.

Dallas, Adam, Owen, Eli, Drew, Bianca, Luke, Becky, Alli, Dave, Jenna and I were all in the basement reading a week's worth of letters that Jake had brought by. They had all said they wanted to help me read them so I called and they all came. Most people were sitting on the floor, Dallas was on the sofa, sitting at the end and I was lying on my stomach to keep off of my abrasions that were painfully healing into scars; my legs resting on Eli's lap when I didn't have them bent up behind me. Adam was on the other side of Eli, Becky next to Adam and Drew and Bianca lounging together on the chaise part of the sofa.

"What did Emily and the other girls say?" Alli questions.

"They all had different thoughts on it but they all seemed to agree that I was a hero for coming forward to begin with. They all kept silent from the beginning and of course none of them got raped either, just kissed and groped a little. I had you guys and maybe that's why I fought so hard, stood up to him but I got raped for doing it." I say keeping my voice as even as I can.

Dallas strokes my hair, while Eli touches my leg to let me know that they're there.

"Are they getting the same types of letters?" Jenna asks.

"Yeah pretty much, they've all gotten ones talking about being brave for coming forward. They've all gotten a few bad ones; only those of us that have been shown on TV have gotten ones from guys asking them out." I inform them.

"Speaking of," Drew says in a laughing voice and I turn my head to look at him as he clears his throat to start reading. "Dear Clare, I think you are the hottest bravest girl ever. Asher is a pig, a horrible pedophile and deserves to be roasted on a pit. You should marry me, I will love you and treat you like a queen, please say yes." Drew snickers tipping the envelope and a ring falls out. "Look he even included a ring."

"Send it back," I tell Drew.

"What's the guys name and address I'll take it to him personally?" Dallas says through clenched teeth.

"Mike you can't be jealous of the guys that ask me out after seeing me running from cameras on TV and decided to have some diluted crush on me." I insist to him, grabbing his arm to keep him from getting up.

"Yes I can and I have every right to kill him, all of them!" Dallas replies.

"Mike," I reprimand, he grumbles but sits back again.

"Luke hand me the bad box," Dave says holding up a letter.

"Let me see it Dave," I insist holding my hand out for the letter.

"It's pretty bad Clare," Dave tells me.

"Either read it out loud or let me see it!" I demand.

"Just hand it to her or she'll make me come get it." Dallas informs him.

"I'll read it," Dave says pulling the letter back to him. "It starts out with conniving skank whore. Are you sure you want to hear this Clare?" Dave asks.

"Read it or give it to me," I state again.

Dave gives me a dubious look but keeps reading. "Anything you and those other girls got you asked for. I know Asher Shostak and he is a good man and you're dragging his name through the mud for attention or fame or money or all three. I hope you all go down in flames and his name is cleared. You all deserve to die and I hope you do." Dave finishes swallowing hard and the room is deathly silent and tense.

"Can I kill those guys at least?" Dallas requests after a few minutes.

"No Mike the cops are taking care of it," I remind him.

"Yeah because they're doing such a good job with your rape case," he replies begrudgingly.

I get up and sit on his lap, encircling my arms around his neck. "Maybe not but I have all of you to keep me safe. Besides in a few days we're all leaving for spring break a whole week where none of us can think about it, about Asher, a week of fun." I stipulate to everyone in the room.

"Yeah speaking of which us girls have some shopping to do, come on time to go to the mall." Bianca says standing up and out of Drew's arms.

Becky, Alli and Jenna get up and I just sort of look at them, they give me a look and pull me up.

"I guess we'll be back," I say slowly looking at Dallas.

"No I just heard a letter where the guy wanted you to die, we're all going." Dallas states.

Most of the other guys have about the same look on their faces so I know we're all going.

"What are we doing here?" I question when we arrive at a swimsuit shop.

"We can't go on spring break at a beach without new bikinis," Bianca smiles.

"No way, not a chance!" I state flatly.

"Why not?" Alli asks.

"Uh because even if I didn't feel like bikinis showed too much skin my back is just beginning to heal and even the scars look like road kill." I remind them.

"Yeah I don't think any of us care and I know Dallas doesn't and if anyone at the beach stares at you wrong we'll all kill them." Bianca tells me, before I can answer Bianca looks back at the guys. "Who wants to see us try on bikinis?" Bianca asks.

Naturally all the guys, hoot, holler and whistle their desire to see us in next to nothing.

"No, you three try on bikinis I'm good." I say crossing my arms over my chest but it's no use; the other girls pull me in and back to the bikini racks and the guys follow.

I start going through the racks slowly, looking at the bikinis but not pulling anything out. The guys are all lingering in the store; Adam following Becky, Drew following Bianca, Luke following Jenna, Dave following Alli and of course Dallas following me. Also following me however were Owen and Eli as they didn't have girlfriends or girls they liked so I guess following me around the store was the next best thing.

"Clare if you don't start picking out bikinis to try on I'm going to do it for you." Owen warns me.

"Yeah I'll help; plum was always a good color on you." Eli says pulling out a plum bikini with gold accents.

"I'll help too and you know I'll find the ones with the least amount of material." Dallas says with a lustful look on his face.

"Okay I'll pick some out but do you three have to follow me?" I question.

"Yes," they all say together.

I huff in annoyance but start picking out bikinis I might actually wear. When all of us girls have five each we go back to the dressing rooms. The sales girls were already looking at us for coming in to the store as such a large group but now they're really staring.

"Wait I know you, you're that Clare girl from the news." One of the sales girls says and when everyone else tenses up and glares at her she gets nervous. "So um five dressing rooms, yeah we only have five so you girls just take the one you want and I'm guessing you guys aren't going anywhere so there's a couple of chairs and yeah just uh holler if you need us." The girl says walking away quickly and uncomfortably.

Dallas and Owen take the chairs and the other boys lean against the wall. I sigh and go into a dressing room, taking off my clothes and sucking in a sharp breath when the movement hurts the healing scabs. The first bikini is white with red sea shells, it's a standard bikini with very little material, the top doesn't support much but I don't think it's supposed to.

"Ooh very nice I like that one," Drew says and I assume Bianca has stepped out in a bikini to show him.

"Clare do you have a suit on yet?" Alli asks from the dressing room next to mine.

"Yes," I reply.

"Then come out with us," Jenna calls.

"No thanks," I shake my head.

"Clare get out here!" Bianca demands.

"No," I say again.

"Princess let us see," Dallas sort of whines and begs.

"Ugh fine, just remember my back looks like road kill." I tell them as I open the door.

"You look hot," Owen says.

"You look very sexy Princess," Dallas smiles.

"This is great it's like a live sports illustrated swimsuit issue. Now spin around," Owen says twirling his finger.

We all glower at Owen and go back into our dressing rooms, after about an hour two shops and a lot of trying on swimsuits we all find one that we like and yes we all get bikinis. Alli and the other girls convince me too of course the guys help. Bianca has the skimpiest bikini, it's bright pink with black pinstripes and strapless, the bottom hangs low on her hips and Drew was very happy. Alli and Jenna both chose the same bikini in different color schemes, the top is sort of a triangle halter piece and the bottom hangs low on their hips, Alli's is black and red and Jenna's white and blue. Becky has a yellow bikini, it's pretty standard but has black bead strings to hold up the top and bottom. Mine is amethyst in color with gold accents, halter with a standard cut, Dallas was quite happy with it. I wasn't sure going in the water was a good idea unless my scabs were fully healed by then but I can always lie on the beach. After shopping we all get dinner and then split up to go home, Eli comes with Dallas, Adam and I since he's spending the night.

"What do you want us to do with all the letters?" Adam asks when we go into the basement.

"Leave them; I'll deal with them tomorrow." I reply.

It's not very late so we watch a couple of movies before going to bed. Dallas and I say goodnight to Eli and Adam and get ready for bed ourselves.

"Maybe I should talk to the press," I say quietly after we've been lying in bed a few moments.

He tightens his arms around me, he knows where all the scabs have healed and what hasn't and he's always careful. I lightly trace my fingertips along his chest as he kisses my forehead.

"Why? I thought the whole point was to hide you from the press." Dallas replies.

"It was but that didn't work to well, they got my name, they flash my school portrait once an hour at least that's what it feels like. They've caught fleeting glimpses of me running from the camera as you and the others threaten to kill them if they don't turn the cameras off. The point is all they have is rumor, whatever little tidbits they found out from their sources and what little bits Emily and Jeanette told them, me and the other girls haven't talked at all. These letters, I get and they get all of them everything about them is talking about things they know nothing about. I don't know about the other girls but I feel like I need to clear the air, straighten things out." I tell him.

"Straighten what things out?" Dallas asks.

"Well for one thing those letters from boys asking me out, and the occasional marriage proposal," I say and Dallas tenses, I lay my hand flat on his chest to calm him, "maybe they wouldn't be writing to ask me out if they knew I had a boyfriend. A boyfriend that I'm in love with and has been there for me through all of this. The letters that call me a hero, say I'm brave for coming forward but none of them know I only came forward because of you and Adam and everyone else! I feel like an imposter, like a false idol because they think I'm Wonder Woman or something but they don't know about all of you! I doubt anything I say is going to convince the people on Asher's side that he is a bastard pedophile but at least I could say my side of things. Bring some of it into the light; I'm tired of hiding in the shadows of running and not talking." I tell Dallas.

"See you are brave," Dallas replies.

"No I'm frustrated," I grimace at him.

"You say frustrated I say brave," Dallas smiles and gently brings our lips together. "We can talk to Nick in the morning, he can arrange it but if you do this you're not going on camera alone I at least will be with you and I'm pretty sure Drew, Adam, Owen, Bianca and Eli at least will want to be with you too. We should probably talk to the other girls too and see if they want to go on camera. There will be things about the case you won't be able to talk about." Dallas says.

"I know Mike but I have to do something, I can't ignore the letters now that I know they exist and I can't read all of them. I can't hide anymore, as much as I wish this could all just go away it isn't going to. I can't erase it, can't take back time all I can do is fight and I'm tired of fighting from the shadows, from behind you and the others I need to do it with you at my sides." I affirm.

"And you know we will be with you every second and every step of this fight and beyond." Dallas says before giving me another soft kiss. "Now get some sleep." He tells me when he takes his lips away.

**(DALLAS)**

"So she still wants to go through with this press conference thing when we get back?" Owen asks me as we're loading things into his SUV and Audra's minivan since we're about to leave for Port Dover.

Twenty one of us in total were going so the house was going to be full and we had to take 5 cars all together. Jake's truck had most of our bags; Imogen's car had whatever couldn't fit anywhere else since she was only driving her and Fiona.

"Yeah all the other girls too, they all want to get their voices heard. You still doing it?" I ask Owen.

"If she's going on camera in front of reporters then I'll sit by here. You know we all will." Owen replies.

"Hey no serious talk this is a vacation," Clare insists sneaking up on us.

"Apologies Princess, you ready?" I question.

"Yep, Jake and Katie have the truck all packed up. Luke is helping Imogen and Fiona pack their car with whatever else we couldn't fit. Eli, Adam, Becky, Drew and Bianca are riding with us. Owen's taking Tris, Tori, Zig and Connor and the rest are going in Dave's car." Clare informs us.

"How did I get stuck taking the kids?" Owen complains.

"Tris wanted to ride with you, Tori wanted to ride with Tris and Zig wanted to ride with Tori. Connor and Wes were both going to ride with Dave but Luke wanted to ride with Jenna so Connor got moved to your car." Clare explains.

"Fine but we better change for the drive home." Owen grumbles.

"I'll let Adam drive on the way home and we'll ride with you," I tell him and he smiles.

Twenty minutes later we were finally on the road to Port Dover. The drive took three hours but it was filled with music and talking so it went by pretty fast. Our house wasn't right on the beach but it was very close and we had a view of the water. The house has six bedrooms and we were only supposed to have 20 people max but we had 21, we just didn't tell the agent that.

"Let's claim bedrooms and get stuff in, go get lunch and go grocery shopping for the week so we can spend all the rest of the time enjoying the beach." Bianca orders as we all pile out of the cars and go in the house.

The key was right where the agent said it would be, Bianca took Clare's hand and took her upstairs, the rest of us followed.

"Clare and Dallas should get the master bedroom," Owen remarks giving me a wink and pointing to the master at the end of the hall.

"This is mine and Drew's room," Bianca says pulling Drew into the bedroom next to ours on the left side of the hall.

"This room has bunk beds since I'm guessing Becky isn't going to share a bed with Adam you two take that one." Clare says to Adam and Eli pointing to the room on the right side of the hall next to ours.

"These two have double beds, Jenna and I will take one and Luke and Owen can take the other," Becky says for the last two rooms upstairs.

"The rest of you can figure out where to sleep on your own." Owen says shooing the others downstairs.

After everyone found a place to sleep we all brought in our stuff and put our bags in our rooms, or where we were sleeping. Then we went to lunch since none of us had eaten since breakfast. After which we went to the grocery store to get food and such for the week and finally it was time to go to the beach.

"My back still looks like road kill, healing road kill but still, everyone's going to be staring at me. Of course if the news has reached out here they'll be staring anyway I suppose." Clare gripes as she begins to change into her new bikini.

I go up behind her to help her tie her bikini top behind her neck. "If anyone looks at you me and the others will hurt them and I think you look very sexy." I assure her kissing her neck.

"You're my boyfriend and I still think you're lying, road rash healing into scars cannot look sexy." Clare scowls at me in the mirror.

I scoop her up; she puts her arms around my neck as I join our lips. "Everything about you is sexy Princess," I tell her when I take my lips away and then set her down.

She slips on shorts, a shirt and flip flops so we can walk down to the beach and when everyone else is ready we finally go down. The beach is pretty full but we find a big empty spot on the sand where all of us can sit.

"I'm going in the water," Bianca says taking off her dress to show her bikini.

"I'll go with you," Says Alli.

"Me too," Jenna adds.

"Fiones lets go in the water," Imogen pleads a little.

"I think I'll stay on the sand," Becky says.

"I'm with Becky," Clare comments.

Drew, Luke, Zig and Tori go in the water too and the rest of us stay on the sand. Clare takes off her shorts and shirt to sunbathe, everyone but Adam and Tristan strip down to their swimsuits. We lie on the beach for a while, Clare is next to me she's laying on her side since the scabs aren't entirely healed on her back and it still hurts her to lie on her back. After a while she moves to lying on her side. A few people stare at Clare's back but one daggered look from me or one of the other guys and they look away, thankfully Clare doesn't seem to notice.

"You want to go in the water?" I ask Clare after she reapplies her sunscreen.

"I don't think the water will feel very good on my scabs," she replies with a scrunched up face.

"Then we won't let it get on your back," I tell her pulling her up.

"What if it's cold," she whines fighting me from pulling her into the water so I pick her up.

"Then I'll keep holding you." I smile at her and she gives in.

I carry her down to the water and when I'm in to my ankles, feeling that the water isn't too cold I set her down. I keep hold of her hand and we go in until it's up to her thighs, Owen and Eli follow us in and we start a water fight.

"Okay I'm all wet now and the sun is setting can we go back to the sand and watch the sunset?" Clare requests after we've been in the water for about an hour.

"As you wish Princess," I reply picking her up and walking us back to our towels on the beach.

I wrap her in a towel then wrap my arms around her, she leans against me and we watch the sunset with most everyone else. All the couples watch the sunset except for Imogen and Fiona who go in the water with the single people.

"I'm starving can we go eat now?" Owen requests when the sun has gone down.

"Yeah and I'm getting cold," Clare says so we pack up and start walking back to the house.

"We should do burgers on the porch grill tonight," Owen says.

"Do any of you know how to actually work a grill?" Fiona asks in a semi mocking tone.

"HEY!" At least six of us guys reply.

"I'm going to go change, just don't burn the house down or burn any of you when you start the grill." Clare says when we get back to the house.

"Clare some confidence please, I've known how to work a grill since I was Tristan's age." Owen grimaces at her.

Clare smiles at us and goes upstairs, meanwhile Owen, Luke, Drew, Adam, Eli and I go out to the porch to start the grill. Clare doesn't appear again until we have the burgers going on the grill. She sits down with the other girls and starts talking but we keep glancing at each other. After eating dinner and dessert then cleaning up it was fairly late and we were all tired after a long day and drive so we all head off to bed.

"So how was your first day of vacation Princess?" I inquire when she's lying in my arms in bed.

"Wonderful, I almost don't want to go home, especially since I'll be going home to face Asher at trial." She says scrunching her nose.

"Hey I thought we said no serious talk?" I remind her as I trail my fingers up her leg and slide them under her panties.

I feel her stomach muscles tighten, watch as her eyes close and she bites her lip.

"I wonder how sound proof these walls are?" She breathes as I begin stroking her pussy lips.

"Well I don't hear Drew and Bianca so I'm guessing pretty sound proof." I smile.

"Mike! Thanks for that mental image!" She admonishes.

"I can clear it from your head," I grin.

I move her to her back, get rid of her panties and spread her legs slipping my tongue into her. Her back arches, her hands grip into my hair and she moans. I lick her insides, drinking her juices for just a few minutes to get her going then I withdraw my tongue and slide up. She squirms and whimpers a little when my tongue comes out but I start unbuttoning the dress shirt and kissing her skin. When the dress shirt is unbuttoned I open it so I have access to her lovely breasts. Gently I suck one nipple and then the other, eliciting such wondrous moans from her lips. I grab a condom from the nightstand and slip it on, yes I came prepared. Attaching my lips to hers I thrust into her, her back arches, her body quivers, her eyes go half lidded and her hands go to the back of my neck.

She feels amazing, tight, warm, soft and so very awesome. After enjoying the feel of her for a moment I pull out slowly and then steadily increase my pace. Breaking from kissing her lips to kiss her skin, she bites her lip which I think is more to keep her from being too loud than anything else. When I have a fast but steady pace I lightly nip at her skin, she lets out this shuddering moan and it spurs me on to go even faster. Clare's head lulls back as her body trembles. She tightens around me and I know she's close, feeling her tighten around me is all it takes for me and I bring my lips to her nipple as I release into her.

"Nnnnggnn Mmmmmike!" Clare says in a breathing moan as she achieves orgasm.

I slow down until both our orgasms have dissipated, then I pull out and collapse next to her. Encircling her in my arms as I press our sweaty breathless bodies together once again, she kisses my chest as she begins to recover her breath.

"Well that was fun, I hope nobody heard us," she giggles.

"We were pretty quiet but if anyone heard us, the guys will tease us in the morning." I tell her.

"You mean they'll tease you, they won't say anything to me." She says as she yawns.

"Get some sleep Princess," I tell her, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair.

She nuzzles into my chest some more, kisses me again gently and soon we're both asleep.

**(CLARE)**

"Clare, we'll put you in the center of the table, I'll sit at one side of you and Dallas I assume you'll want to be on the other?" Nick asks as we go into the conference room where we're going to have the press conference.

There's a bunch of chairs facing a horse shoe shaped table, with chairs for us to sit on the other side, a microphone and bottle of water in front of each chair. The reporters will start arriving in about ten minutes, Emily and the other girls are already here as are all my friends that wanted to do this with me.

"Yeah, I want to sit right next to Clare." Dallas says taking my hand.

"Okay I'll have the rest of you girls sit on the other side of me and Clare's friends you sit on the other side of Dallas. We should all take our seats; the reporters will start filing in soon. I'll start the press conference off and then pass it along to Clare. We'll give the reporters some time after each of the girls speak to ask questions but remember all the things I told you that you couldn't talk about because the trial starts tomorrow." Nick informs us.

We all sit down and get situated and soon reporters start coming in, every TV station, newspaper and internet news blog in Toronto is being represented. It takes about fifteen minutes for the reporters to get situated and Nick begins. He introduces himself and tells the reporters why we're all there. He tells them they'll have time to ask questions but there are things we can't talk about. Then he says each girl pressing charges against Asher is going to make a statement and looks at me.

"My name is Clare Edwards, a few months ago I was an intern at the Toronto Interpreter and Asher Shostak was my boss. A few weeks into my internship Asher began to harass me and it continued even after my internship was over culminating with Asher raping me. Going up against anyone that has harassed or assaulted you is hard but especially when that someone is as powerful and connected as Asher Shostak. At first I didn't say anything to anyone about the assaults or harassment, I was scared and confused and wanted it to go away but of course it wouldn't. My boyfriend Mike found out, then my friends Adam, Drew, Bianca and Owen and slowly my other friends. It was only because of them and with their support that I had the courage and willpower to fight back. It was only with their encouragement and insistence that I went to the cops to bring charges against Asher at all. I want to thank everyone that has sent me hopeful and encouraging letters, letters that praise my bravery and call me a hero for coming forward and going up against Asher but I'm not a hero all I did was survive. Without my boyfriend and my friends I would not have made it through this, I would not have fought back and I would not have gone to the police and filed charges against Asher. Mike and my friends have been with me every step of the way and every minute of this fight. They stood up against Asher with me, I appreciate the support but I'm no hero, if not for my friends I would have kept quiet." I finish with a deep breath and Dallas squeezes my hand under the table.

Emily and the other girls all say their piece, of course none of them were raped or anything even close but they were all harassed and assaulted. Most of what they say is pretty similar, they interned for Asher and he began harassing them a few weeks in, they all kept quiet and moved on, most of them say if they had friends like mine they might have fought back. Emily says she only got the courage to come forward after seeing the story about me on the news and the other girls say they only came forward after talking to Emily. When they're all done Nick opens the floor to questions, most of the questions are things we're not allowed to answer because the trial begins tomorrow. One reporter asks Dallas and the others how they found out; of course she calls Dallas Mike and he has to correct her to call him Dallas before answering. After a half hour of questions Nick ends the press conference and after a short briefing for tomorrow we all go home, well the other girls all go out for drinks, while Dallas and the rest of us go home to the Torres house and hang out in the basement.

"So you ready for trial tomorrow?" Dave asks when we're sitting down.

"Not really, I just want it to be over and done with. I really don't want to see him tomorrow in court. He's going to be sitting there and looking at me." I reply shivering a little.

Dallas tightens his grip on me and kisses my temple. "But you won't be alone; I'll be there, so will Adam, Owen, Drew and Bianca." He assures me.

"I know," I nod.

Everyone hangs out until after ten when they need to get home, anyone who will be in school tomorrow instead of in court with us wishes us good luck. When everyone is gone Adam says goodnight leaving Dallas and I alone in the basement.

"Should we go to bed?" Dallas asks.

"I know I need to sleep, that tomorrow's a big day but I'm not tired at all just scared. I'm nervous about having to see him again, worried that even with all of our testimony he'll be found innocent." I confess to him.

"He won't be able to get to you and we'll all be there and there is no way that Asher can be found innocent but if you really can't sleep then I can think of something we can do." Dallas suggests in a lustful voice as his lips begin trailing kisses along my neck.

"As fun as that sounds I'm too anxious and scared about tomorrow to be horny." I tell him.

"Then why don't we get ready for bed and I'll rub your back until you fall asleep." Dallas says.

"That sounds like a good idea," I smile, turning to put my lips on his.

Once we're both ready for bed, aside from me putting on his dress shirt to sleep in, I lay down on my stomach and Dallas rubs my back. My back has fully healed into scars now which makes everything easier. As he gently rubs my back he tells me he loves me and assures me everything will be fine tomorrow. Dallas is very soothing but it still takes me a long time to fall asleep but he keeps rubbing my back until I do. Adam wakes us up early the next morning and when we're all ready we go to the courthouse with Audra. My parents, Nick, the other girls, Owen, Drew and Bianca meet us there.

"Nora you'll be the first to testify as your assault happened nearly six years ago, we'll call you up in order, Clare you'll be the last and you probably won't testify today. Your assault happened last but was also the most severe; it will show a progression in Asher's behavior. The rest of you will be called to testify following Clare's testimony and I've already spoken to the parents of your other friends that will be asked to testify. You don't have to be in the courtroom the whole time, if it gets too hard you can leave, the bailiff will show you to a private room and someone can come get you if your needed you just need to alert me. We should go in it's starting." Nick tells all of us.

Nick sits at the defendants table, since there isn't enough room for all of us to sit, three of the girls sit with him and the rest of us sit on the benches behind him. A few moments later Asher comes in with his lawyer, Asher isn't in cuffs, he's dressed in an expensive suit and a confident smile that I really want to slap off his face. Dallas tenses and puts his arm around me; Adam is sitting on my other side tenses too. Asher looks at me and the other girls that brought charges against him and I squeeze Dallas and Adam's hands. The court room rapidly fills up and then the judge comes in. I've already heard all the other girls stories so I'm prepared but it's still hard. Only Nora and two other girls have time to give testimony today. Asher's lawyer doesn't go easy on them, he's brutal in his cross examination and there's lots of emotion and lots of tears. All I did was sit all day but when the judge ends the trial for the day I'm exhausted.

"I think it went well today," Drew says cautiously as we're leaving the courtroom.

"Yeah, me too the jury looked like they believed Nora and the others, they didn't seem to like Asher's lawyer much." Adam adds.

"You want to go get some dinner?" Bianca asks.

"Actually I'm not hungry and I'm very tired but you guys go eat." I insist.

"You sure?" Owen asks and I nod.

"I'll get her home; you guys go we'll see you tomorrow." Dallas says.

"Alright call us if you need us and I'll be home in an hour so," Adam says as he hugs me.

"I will," I assure him.

I hug the others then Dallas and I head home.

"You okay?" Dallas asks as we're driving.

"Just exhausted, it was a lot just to hear and I'd heard it all before and we get to go back and do it tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. This trial could go on for weeks Mike, I'm missing school and a normal life to sit in a court room and tell our stories hoping it's enough to send Asher to prison and expose him." I complain.

Dallas takes my hand and interlaces our fingers. "We'll be there with you every day Princess but it's done for the day lets go home, I'm going to make you eat something and then we're going to watch movies and go to sleep." He says and I smile at him.

"I love you Mike."

"I love you too Clare."

**(DALLAS)**

The courtroom was packed full of people, Clare's parents, Adam's parents, Me and Clare, Drew, Bianca, Adam, Eli, Dave, Alli, Jenna, Luke, Becky, Owen, Katie, Maya, Cam, Jake, Tristan, Connor, Wesley, the lawyers of course and the other girls that had brought charges against Asher, he was there too of course and about 3 dozen other people that had come to hear the judges verdict. The judge came in and Clare grabbed my hand and Alli's who was on the other side of her.

"Mr. Shostak these charges against you are serious and severe, after hearing the testimony from each of these young ladies as well as Miss Edwards' friends I have reached a verdict. Mr. Shostak please rise," the judge orders and he does with his lawyer. "For each charge of workplace sexual harassment and assault I find you guilty and sentence you to one year in prison for each charge for a total of fifteen years. For the charge of aggravated stalking against Miss Edwards I find you guilty and add an additional five years to your sentence. Finally for the charge of rape and sexual assault against Miss Edwards I find you guilty and sentence you to the maximum of thirty years in a maximum security prison. Bailiff please take Mr. Shostak into custody, your sentence is forty five years in total with possibility for parole after twenty. I suggest Mr. Shostak that you use that time to think about how you damaged these young women and used your position of power to take advantage of them. Bailiff please take Mr. Shostak away and to all you girls who came forward and had the courage to stand up to Mr. Shostak I commend you, court is adjourned."

As soon as the judge says guilty we all let out a collective breath and Clare collapses against me. Alli and I hug her together and I see Drew and Owen high five. Asher looks completely shocked, he obviously didn't think he would be found guilty; I can't help but give him a gloating look as he's led away in cuffs. After the judge leaves there is several minutes of all around congratulations before we leave the courtroom. The outside of the courthouse is flooded with reporters so while Nick, Audra and Clare's parents go out to talk to them we sneak Clare and the other girls out the back.

"Where are we going?" Clare asks when I pass the street that would take us home.

"To DeGrassi," I tell her.

"Why? It's Friday afternoon," she replies.

"You'll see," I respond.

Our motorcade, which includes Emily and the other girls, pulls up to DeGrassi and we get out and lead the girls to the gym. It's decorated, has music going and the whole school and all the girls families.

"What is this?" Clare asks with a smile.

"A victory dance Princess, that fucking pedophile is going to rot in prison where I very much hope he's going to be ass raped by every single inmate in there but he's out of our lives for at least the next twenty years. You're free, all of you, all of us, he can't control you anymore and we're going to celebrate our let's dance Princess," I command taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor.

She smiles and follows me to the dance floor, it's a fast song but I put my hands on her waist and she puts her hands on my shoulders. We dance for several songs, the slow ones with just the two of us and the fast with our friends. When Clare gets tired we sit at one of the large round tables and are soon joined by Adam and Becky, Drew and Bianca, Dave and Alli and Luke and Jenna. Owen and Eli come over with two trays of plastic cups filled with punch on them and pass one to each of us.

"A toast to victory, to Clare's bravery and may Asher rot in hell!" Owen says.

"Here, here," we all smile and raise our glasses.

"Then a toast to all of you for supporting me and helping me through this." Clare says raising her glass.

We all touch cups and take another sip then sit and talk for a while and eat. Slowly the others begin to wander away, back to the dance floor or just to mingle until it's just me and Clare at the table and I put her on my lap.

"You know Princess it was a few months ago in this gym I announced you were my girlfriend." I remind her.

"I remember," she smiles putting her arms around my neck and affixing her lips to mine.

"In a couple of months we'll be leaving to go home to my parents for the summer." I say.

"I know, I can't wait to meet them. I hope they like me." She says.

"They will love you and then we'll be back here, you for another year at DeGrassi and I'll be starting my freshman year at TU." I inform her.

Her eyes go wide and her mouth drops open in happy surprise. "You got in? Mike that's fantastic why didn't you tell me?" She questions.

"I wanted to wait until after the trial and I'm not the only one, both me and Owen got in on hockey scholarships." I tell her.

Too happy for words she kisses me with passion and love and lots of fervor. "I love you Mike, more than anything."

"I love you Clare, you are my Princess and I will love you forever."

**I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter so since I couldn't decide which to start next, I asked a few of my readers to vote and the votes came out even for two stories so I'm going to start them both. So this weekend I'll start Best Served Hot and next week when you would be expecting this story to be updated I will be starting Between Love and Darkness, a Drew and Clare story.**


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